


Secret Sisters

by Theukon_dos



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Another fucking beta siblings AU, Background Vinedric, F/F, I honestly only included it for a joke, I mean that Lucia and Salix fuck, Implied Sexual Content, Lucia needs a hug, No beta we die like Amelia's dignity, Salix needs a bonking, Soft betas, The only thing slowburning here are my hopes and dreams, and by implied, it just happens off screen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:55:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28420530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theukon_dos/pseuds/Theukon_dos
Summary: When Lucia Noceda gets trapped in another world, she doesn't expect to find friends, enemies, or her sister who's supposed to be at camp.And with the portal back destroyed, She's going to have to stay on her toes if she wants to make it back alive.
Relationships: Amity Blight & Emira Blight & Edric Blight & Amelia Blight, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Beta Luz/Beta Willow, Eda Clawthorne & Luz Noceda, Edric Blight/Viney, Lucia Noceda/Salix Park, More I don't feel like listing
Comments: 61
Kudos: 318





	1. Prelude

"So, you guys got any plans for Saturday?"  
Luz was on the balls of her feet, ready to bounce around as always.  
"I'm getting my cast taken off Saturday. Man I miss walking on my own"  
Amity sighed as she leaned deeper into her abomination. Despite not having to walk, Maintaining the goopy puppet took quite a bit of effort.  
"Can't wait for that either. What about you Willow? Do you wanna hang out?"  
"Sorry Luz. I'm going to go meet with my sister Saturday."  
Luz let out an excited gasp.  
"YOU HAVE A SISTER?!"

Willow scratched her head, realizing it never really came up.  
"Yeah, she's a few years older than me though."  
"Why haven't I met her?"  
The question itself was innocent enough, Yet it still caused Willow pause.  
"She's... Kinda been in the Conformatorium for the past 6 months"

A scandalous gasp escaped from Luz. "Why?!"

"Growth and Possession of illegal substances."

"Oh." Luz deflated a bit. "I... Guess I can't really argue with that. huh?"  
She paused for a moment as something crossed her mind. "Do you think that's one of the reasons your dads wanted you in the Abominations track?"  
Willow blinked at her. "That... Might be the case to be honest"

"Wait a second" Poked in Amity. "I think Amelia told me about that."

The sparkle in the human's eyes instantly returned. "Oooooh, who's Amelia?"  
"My oldest sister. She went to go work with the Emperor's Coven about a year ago. I haven't been able to talk to her much recently."  
"That's no fun." Luz remarked.

"Well, I guess that's two of us with Secret siblings." Willow japed. "Want to make that three for three?"

Luz stopped for a moment before scratching her chin.

"Now that you mention it, Have I ever told you guys about Lucia?"

Amity confirmed that, no, Luz had, in fact, not told them about her older sister.

Willow, meanwhile, continued to stare blankly at the human.

"That was a joke. Please don't make me join the Oracle track."

The group quickly degraded into a chorus of laughter. They spent the rest of the way to school telling each other about their no-longer-secret sisters.


	2. The Door

* * *

"¿Y PENSASTE QUE LA MEJOR OPCIÓN ERA ENVIARLA A UN CAMPAMENTO DE CONVERSIÓN?"  
Lucia Noceda was fuming. She had been on the road for the last year. Figuring out what she wanted to do in her life.  
She planned to come home to visit for the summer, only for her car to break down on the way and somehow take a _month_ to repair.  
And now that she was home, She's learning that Luz. The little light of her life, was sent away to some god forsaken camp meant to break her spirit.  
"It's not a-" Camila began before instantly deflating.  
"I don't like it either, mija, but Principle Hal gave me an ultimatum. Either she went to that camp and came back a reasonable student, or she wouldn't be allowed back next year."  
Lucia took a deep breath.  
 _"Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale"_ she thought to herself.  
A few moments of breathing exercises later, Lucia wasn't feeling any better, but she was thinking a bit more clearly.

"I'm going for a walk" she said as she opened the door with maaaaybe a bit more force than she was planning on.

* * *

Lucia had been walking for maybe 20 minutes now. Once she realized that people where starting to stare at her, she turned back towards home and ended up taking a path through the woods.

The walk did help Lucia calm down a bit. But she was still furious.

If what her mom had told her was true and Luz really did bring live snakes and fireworks to school, then Hal _did_ have a point about Luz getting out of hand.  
But seriously? "Think inside the box summer camp?" What kind of sick fuck would make _anyone_ send their child to a hellhole like that? like, A therapist sure.  
But an entire summer camp dedicated to stamping out a child's creativity and wonder? How was that even legal?

_GGGrrrrrrrrrr_

Lucia froze. As she slowly turned around and saw what made that noise.

about 20 feet behind her, a massive german shepherd was growling at her. Ears tucked behind it's head while it was foaming at the mouth.

"Uhhhh. Good boy?"

The beast charged at her, Lucia nearly tripping as she dashed away.

"NOT A GOOD BOY! NOT A GOOD BOY!"

Lucia ran as fast as her heart could handle. There was still some distance between her and the mutt, But that distance was closing. She needed somewhere to hide _now_.  
After a few more moments of sprinting, something came into her view. An old, abandon shack sitting in the woods.

" _perfect_ " she thought.

She didn't notice as the dog stopped at the tree line. No longer growling at her, but instead at the house.

Instead, she simply made a mad dash for the door, slamming her way inside of it, which was followed by a burst of golden light coming from the shack.

* * *

Lucia leaned on the door.

"Fuck me that was close" she thought as she slid down it.

" _wait a fucking second_ "

She wasn't in a shack, she was in some kind of tent filled with garbage.

Also, the door was floating in the middle of the room, with no shack behind it.

And why did it have a massive eye on the front?

Before she could have any of these questions answered, the door began to shudder as it folded in on itself.

"no no no no no" Lucia muttered as it turned into a briefcase and flew towards the entrance of the tent.

"Did you hear something?" A voice called from outside.

"Shit". Lucia dove behind a pile of junk, Using a small hand mirror to keep an eye on the entrance.  
half a second later, An older woman with a gold tooth an a head of hair that could only be described as a mane poked her head in and looked around.  
"Must have just been my imagination" she muttered after a brief scan.

With the woman gone, Lucia let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Carefully, she creeped towards the front of the tent to figure out where she was.

Outside, she saw the woman from before standing in front of a table that was holding a bunch of knick-knacks.

"I think that's enough for today. What do you say, Owlbert?"

Suddenly, the small owl figurine on the lady's staff sprung to life. Had Lucia's breath not caught in her throat, she surely would have gasped at the sight.

The small bird coo'd. Seemingly in agreement. A moment later, the woman was twirling her staff as a bright glow enveloped the owl, and then all the garbage she had in front of the tent.  
Lucia's eyes shot open as the table and everyone on top of and next to it folded in on itself and formed a small bag that _definitly_ wasn't big enough to carry it all.

Lucia sat there stunned as the woman hitched the bag to her staff and flew away. Flew. _Flew!_

At this point, Lucia was pretty sure she was in a rabies-induced coma. Unfortunately, pinching herself did nothing, so it had to have been real.

Lucia paced around the tent. Whatever the fuck was going on, she needed a way to get home. She quickly peaked out of the tent to asses her surroundings.  
The first thing that she noticed is that she was in a town of some kind. The architecture was a style she didn't recognize though.  
The people seemed normal enough. But on closer inspection she realized that all of them had pointed ears. And then she noticed the really weird stuff.

Some kind of giant centipede with a human face on it walked by. She saw a pair of schoolgirls (?) come out of a shop, With the second one having dark pink skin and a second mouth on top of her head.  
And then there where some folks wearing what looked like plague masks and some kind of crest.

Lucia quickly ducked back inside and pinched the bridge of her nose.  
"Alright Lucia. You're stuck in some kind of magical world filled with monsters and... Elves? What would Luz do?"  
Lucia quickly realized that Luz would probably start to grovel at the first git who offered her some kind of quest, only to then get kidnapped when said git turned on her in the end.  
So probably not the best plan.

After a few more minutes, Lucia finally decided on something. She grabbed a light grey cloak. One that was heavy enough to hide what she looked like, but not heavy enough to draw more attention than necessary.  
She also grabbed a red metal baseball bat from one of the junk piles. It was a bit dented, but still more than heavy enough to swing over someone's head. She then left the tent to figure out what to do from there.

* * *

Overall, her plan worked surprisingly well. A few people cast glances her way. Yet somehow a hooded figure was fairly tame compared to some of the other things she saw on the streets.  
Hell, A couple other inconspicuous hooded figures even waved at her.

It was when Lucia tried to take a short cut through an alley that things went sour.

"Who do we have here?"

Lucia turned to see where the voice had come from. Behind her, a small group of thugs had made their presence known. All 3 of them looked fairly lanky. Not really something she would be intimidated by.  
The third one hissed at the girl, revealing a forked snake tongue. That was slightly more concerning.

"You don't look like you're from around here." the middle one, and presumably the leader said.

"So what if I'm not?"

The man chuckled. "Well, if there's one thing I've learned, it's that tourists tend to keep the most cash on 'em. So let me make this easy for you."  
With a snap of his fingers, A small ball of flame appeared above his hand.  
"Fork over everything you got. And nobody gets hurt."

Lucia planted her feet firmly and hoisted the bat above her shoulder.  
"Try me, bitch."

The smug look on the mugger's face quickly contorted to anger. The people here must have never heard of baseball, As he quickly opened his palm and threw the now much larger fireball straight at her.  
Lucia side stepped it and brought her bat to the flame. Knocking it straight back into one of the thug's crownies. Before the other two could figure out what happened, Lucia blitzed the snake tonged one,  
Bringing her bat down over his skull with a satisfying **_THWAK_** as he collapsed to the ground.

"You'll burn for that!" The witch snarled as he drew a circle in the air and summoned fourth a glowing shortsword.

Lucia didn't hesitate, She quickly dashed towards the last thug, Blocking his swing as she brought the baseball bat down to his skull.  
With surprising agility, he quickly brought his own blade up to intercept it.

"Ready to give up?" He snarled.

"Not even it close"

"FREEZE!"

Both combatants turned towards the entrance of the alleyway. Blocking it was a small group of those masked guys from earlier.

"You are under arrest by the emperor's coven. Any attempts to resist will be held against you."

"Shit." Lucia muttered to herself.

The thug she was just fighting saw his opportunity. He quickly brought his knee to the girl's gut, causing her to kneel over in pain.  
He then quickly ran in the opposite direction of the guards. prompting the two on the edge of their formation to chase after him. The one at the head of the group went over to Lucia,  
who quickly recovered from the blow.

"Yeah yeah," she said as she raised her hands. "Let's just get this over with."

The coven guard held her hands behind her back as he lead her to a carriage.

 _"Mom's gonna kill me"_ Lucia thought as she was driven away to god-knows-where.

* * *

Amelia pinched the bridge of her nose, her bright green hair escaping her hood and flowing over her shoulders. She was used to having weird cases every now and again. Yet somehow this ordinary girl took the cake.

"So let me get this straight" She began. "You're a human."  
"Yes"  
"You arrived here when you ran into an abandon cabin to escape a..."  
"Dog"  
"A dog, yes. And then the portal closed behind you"  
"Yes"  
"And after having a mild panic attack, You went into town, got into a fight with those muggers, and are now here"  
"I wouldn't say I had a panic attack, But yes. yes I did."

Lucia looked over towards her fellow interrogator. His eyes glowed as he peered into the girl's mind. After a few moments, he nodded. Confirming that this human was telling the truth.

"Right. Well I have good news and bad news."

"of course you do." It was now Lucia's turn to pinch the bridge of her nose.

"The good news is that your innocent. No charges will be held against you for self defense."  
Lucia nodded along. Atleast some things in this twisted world made sense.

"The bad news, however. Is that you have zero legal documents or identifiers. Meaning without someone atleast 21 years of age to claim responsibility for you, We're going to have to hold you for a few weeks until we can get the paperwork done."  
Lucia let out an audible groan.  
"Is there a lot of it"  
Amelia nodded. "To much."  
The green haired witch stood up and offered her hand.  
"We'll make sure to take good care of you, given how you're not even supposed to be in here."  
Lucia sighed. Atleast the next few weeks wouldn't be complete hell.  
"Thank you..."  
"Amelia Blight."  
"Right."

Amelia turned towards the guard that was standing by the doorway.  
"Bring her to cell 146B. I need to get started on her documents."  
The guard nodded and gestured for Lucia to follow them.  
"Oh, and one more thing"  
Lucia turned back towards Amelia, who was now putting her mask back on.  
"Even if you're not technically a prisoner, Attempting to escape is against the law. so please don't make this even more of a headache than it needs to be"  
Lucia gave her a reassuring smile. "Wouldn't dream of it". She then turned back towards the door and Followed the guard towards her cell.

* * *

"Home sweet home" Lucia muttered as she arrived at her cell.  
The inside of it was about what she expected. A pair of cushioned beds where chained to the wall, There was a sink and toilet in the corner.  
The main thing that caught Lucia's attention though was _who_ was inside the cell.  
She was a tall, slightly broad figure who wore a yellow trench coat with pitch black shirts and pants. As the guard opened the door to let Lucia in, The figure raised her head.  
Her short, messy hair pulling slowly from the cushion as her glasses reflected the light from the hallway at just the right angle to hide her eyes behind them.

"Damn" Was the first thing she said. "Only a week left and _now_ you give me a cell mate?"  
The guard didn't look up as he addressed her. "She's only hear on formality. Messing with her may very well increase your sentence."  
"When did I say I was gonna fuck with her?"  
The guard closed the door back up and re-locked it. "Just stay out of trouble." He said before walking away.

Lucia walked over to her head and flopped down on it. Putting her hands on her face as she went over everything that happened today.

"So what are you in for?" Her cellmate asked.  
Lucia didn't look over as she responded.  
"got into a fight with some muggers. No charges, But now I got to stay in here while they get the paper work sorted."

Her Cellmate scoffed.  
"Oh really? You don't look like someone who came in here with a clean conscious."  
Lucia glared daggers at her.  
"You wanna talk about it?"  
Lucia thought about it for a moment.  
"Only if you give me your name first."

Her cellmate nodded.  
"Fair enough" she said as she sat up on the bed.  
"Salix Park, at your service."  
Lucia sighed as she sat up to fill her end of the bargain.

"I got into a fight with my mom before arriving here. I... may have gotten a bit heated and stormed out on her. Heh. God knows when I'm gonna see her again"

Salix tilted her head inquisitively.  
"Can't she come to visit?"

This only prompted a Scoff from Lucia as she scratched behind her ear.  
"If she could, we wouldn't be talking in this damned cell"

Salix's eyes narrowed. She stood up and walked towards Lucia with purpose in her gait.

"What are you?"

Salix kneeled down and got a closer look at her new cellmate.

"You're a human, ain't ya?"

Lucia sighed as she pulled off her Beanie, revealing the rounded ears underneath.

"You caught me!" she said in a sarcastic tome.

Salix scratched her chin at this new revelation.

"Right. So tell me. How did a human like you end up on the Boiling Isles?"

"It's... a long story."

Salix simply chuckled.

"Well as you may have noticed, we have a lot time."

"Alright then. Where to begin?"

* * *

"Alright, so to start the encounter I roll the..."

"D20"

Teaching someone how to play DnD without any rulebooks was tricky. But Lucia could afford to have patience, given her current situation.

"However, this time you caught the Kobolds by surprise, meaning you go first."

"I cast fireball."

Lucia sighed. "Ofcourse you do. so you cast Fire-"

"FWOOOOM"

Salix and Lucia looked at each other before rushing towards the door of their cell. Down the hallway, someone was causing one hell of a show.

It was hard to see, But a pair of emperor's guards got pinned to the wall before a hooded figure blitzed past the hallway.

"What... Was that?" Lucia tentatively asked.

"I'm... Not sure. People try to break out of here fairly often, but given the direction they where going, it looks like they where trying to break _in_ "

The pair stood at the door a little while longer.

"Well" Salix began. "It looks like whatever they where isn't here for us. C'mon, let's get back to the game."

"Alright. Also hold on, arn't you out of third-level spell slots?"

* * *

"So today's the day, huh?"

Salix nodded. Lucia isn't even sure why she asked. The witch had been crossing her calendar off every morning sense she got put into this cell.  
And today was the day with "RELEASE DAY" written in bright red marker.

"Who's picking you up?"

"Willow, my little sister."

"What about your parents?"

Silex let out a small laugh.

"Me and my dads... Well, We didn't get along super well. And as you might expect, Growing one of the most addictive and stimulating plants on the isles _miiight_ push them a bit to far over the edge"

"Eesh." Lucia remarked. "So what are you gonna do when you get out?"  
Salix simply shrugged. "I got a hidey hole where I can stay for awhile. As for money, If I can grow a plant good enough to smoke, then I can grow one good enough to eat."

"Fair enough"

Before long, The two girls heard their cell door open. In it the hooded figure of a prison guard stood, along with a young girl in a yellow dress. Probably around Luz's age.

"Salix" Willow said.

Salix stood up and walked towards the door.

"Willow" she said in response.

The two stood their for a moment. Neither quite sure what to do.

"Ah fuck it." Salix finally decided. "Come here"

She pulled her younger sister into a massive hug. One clearly trying to make up for all the months they've been apart.  
"Has everything been alright?"  
The young witch Beamed at her older sister.  
"Everything's been great, actually! I'll tell you about it while we walk."

As the two park girls went to leave the complex, Salix stopped for a second before turning back towards her cell. Willow stopped to, wondering why her sister would slow down for anything.

"I'll see what I can do about getting you out of here early." she finally said. "I know a couple guys who might be able to help."

Lucia let out a small smile.

"Thanks. That means a lot"

Salix nodded one final goodbye before resuming her path to freedom.

* * *

"Who was that?" Willow asked once they got out of earshot.

A smug look overtook Salix's face.

"Cellmate. Got brought in a week ago. Get this, They're a _human_ "

Salix expected a lot of reactions upon dropping that info bomb. Willow freezing in place like she had just seen a ghost wasn't one of them.

"A human?"

"Yeah. Said her name's Lucia."

Willow pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a deep breath.

"Everything alright?" her sister asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine, it's just-"

Willow paused for a moment, unsure how to continue.

"I need to make a call"


	3. The Release

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright. That's the last day of the early-chapter blitz. Expect a new one every coming Thursday from here on out.

It was a nice, domestic day at the owl house.  
Luz had a cup of warm apple blood in her hands, King was snoozing away on the couch, Eda was studying glyphs, and Lilith had finally made the move back to her place now that they knew the Emperor's Coven wasn't after them.  
Ofcourse, knowing The Owl House, it wouldn't last.

The crystal ball on the table rang, and Luz was quick to answer it.

"Hey Luz" Willow said.  
"Oh, Hi Willow, what's up?"  
" _sigh_ not much"  
Luz was starting to get concerned.  
"Something wrong?"

Willow swallowed before continuing.

"Sorta. Just- Quick question"  
"Hmmm?" Luz took a sip of apple blood.  
"Why is your sister in the conformatorium?"  
And promptly spit it back out.  
"WHAT??????"

* * *

"Mind if I stand here?" Salix asked the guard.

It's not that she wanted to stand next to the figure, But they where standing right under an air vent. And given how Willow was currently pacing, she was probably gonna be there for awhile.

"Not at all" A feminine voice said from behind the mask, catching Salix off guard.

"Oh shit" she said. "Is that you Amelia?"

The guard laughed before pulling her mask up. Revealing her golden eyes and bright green hair.

"The one and only" she said as she put her mask back on.

"Been awhile, hasn't it?" Salix asked.

"yeah, I guess it has been."

Salix and Amelia where never particularly close, but they still knew each other from when Willow and Amity where friends.

"You and your little sister still a pair of pricks?"

Amelia's low growl was all the conformation that she needed.

"Shouldn't you have left by now?" she asked.

Salix simply shrugged.

"That's what I was hoping for, But when I told Willow that my cell mate was a human, she went to make a call and then started pacing as though Pops just went to the hospital."

Under her mask, Amelia watched the pacing witchling in confusion. What would she ever need with a human?

The answer came through the door soon enough.

"What the hell?" Salix asked.

Through the door came the infamous owl lady herself. Following behind her was a young girl neither of them recognized.

"Wait a second..." Silax muttered. "Is that _another_ Human?"

Amelia looked closer. Sure enough, the young girl had rounded ears. and come to think of it.

"She kind of looks like Lucia, doesn't she?"

Salix nodded. "She did mention having a younger sister. But she also said that her sister was at some kind of "Summer Camp""

The two continued to watch the scene unfold. The Owl lady asked Willow a couple of questions before ruffling her hair and walking towards the front desk, company in tow.

Amelia scoffed. "Sense when does your sister fraternize with criminals?"

"Sense I got bored and decided to try a new gardening project." Salix deadpanned. "Shouldn't you be trying to arrest her?"

Amelia let out another low growl. "Technically speaking, Emperor Belos pardoned her a few days back after a bunch of people protested her Petrification."  
She scoffed. "Ofcourse, most of us in the coven don't really buy into it. Once a criminal, always a criminal."

"Wow" Salix said. "Do you not have any faith in me?"  
Amelia chuckled. "Are you saying you don't plan to rip another joint the moment you get home?"  
Salix sighed. "I'd love to. but no." The ex-convict looked longingly at her sister. "Willow was devastated when I got taken in. She was never really the most social of kids.  
Hell, I was her only friend up until she met Augustus."  
Salix pinched the bridge of her nose.  
"I just- I can't put her through that. Not again."

Amelia nodded along as Salix told her story. A moment later, she suddenly remembered something important.

"Wait a second" she said as she grabbed a small hand mirror.

She opened it, and a quick flip of the wrist later the mirror was playing the news relay from the night of Eda's petrification.

"What's Happening to Eda isn't right."

Salix stared at the small mirror in shock and awe. Willow. Her younger sister who would rather get eaten by a slitherbeast than draw attention to herself, had just hijacked the news report.  
And hijacked it inorder to protest against _The Emperor himself_ no less.

"She might not always follow the rules, But she hasn't done anything worthy of a petrification! The Emperor should let Eda go!"

Judging by the chorus of chants coming from the mirror, and the fact that Eda was in the same room with her, meant that whatever her little sister had done worked.

The rest of the news report was a blur. Salix wasn't really paying attention anymore. She was still focused on the fact that her _little sister_ started a fucking protest against the mother fucking emperor.

After the report finished and Amelia closed her mirror, Salix leaned back against the wall and rubbed her temples.

"What have I missed these last few months?" she asked no one in particular.

Amelia shrugged. "That's what happens when you get your newspaper privileges revoked."

Salix glared daggers at her, before returning to the wall.

By this point, Warden Wrath had entered the room and sat at the desk across from Eda. The two where engaged in heated argument, though neither of them could hear what they where talking about from this distance.

"Hey" Salix asked. "Your younger siblings are illusionists, right?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Have they taught you any tricks that would let us eaves drop on them?"

Amelia thought about it for a moment.

"Well, I do know one thing."

With a small spell circle, she summoned a pair of Earwigs. Their large tail pincers replaced with, well, an ear.

Amelia brought the first one behind her mask and set it along her ear where it rested.

"Gross" Salix shuddered. None the less, she carefully raised the large bug to her hair. flinching as it's legs locked themselves to her sensitive ears.

"Listen here Owl Lady". They could now hear the Warden much more clearly. "You may have been pardoned. But you're still a criminal. I can not allow you to take any prisoners with you."  
Eda scowled at the large demon. "First, how could I still be a criminal if I was pardoned? Second, you said it yourself, that Kid's only in here because she doesn't have any legal documents."

Wrath simply growled at her, ignoring her questions as he leaned forward in his chair. "Now, If a figure of _authority_ approved you taking the human under your wing. Then I may allow you to take her."

Eda leaned back and thought for a moment.

"Hey Luz, Can you call that friend of yours? She might be able to help"

This "Luz" figured nodded her head and ran towards the call room.

"Well, That's definitly her sister" Salix remarked.

"Now perhaps..." Warden wrath began. "There's some other agreement we could come to inorder to-"

"I'm not going on a date with you."

Salix nearly choked on her own spit.

"Where in the titan's name did that come from?!?!"

"I... Don't want to know" Amelia answered.

"Does he even have.... Nope. Bad Salix. get that image out of your head."

Amelia couldn't help but laugh at the girl's self-inflicted torment.

* * *

The next 15 mintues where pretty slow. Really it was just pointless bickering between Eda and Wrath.

"So, who do you think Luz's friend is?"

Amelia shrugged.  
"Beats me," she said. "But they'll probably show up soon."  
As if on queue, the doors of The conformatorium opened up and a voice called out.  
"Sorry I'm late!"  
Wait a fucking second.  
The two women turned towards the door. Standing in it was none other than Amity Blight.

Amelia gawked behind her mask. "What is she..."

"AMITY!" Luz cried as she ran over and gave the mint-haired girl a hug.  
"How's you're leg?"  
"Still a bit tender" the witchling admitted.

Amelia wondered why her little sister would befriend a _human_ of all things, but the biggest surprise was still yet to come.

"Hey Ami" said Willow.

Salix and Amelia looked at each other. They both knew that the girls had split up when they where younger, though Neither of them knew the details.  
But to see Willow calling Amity by her childhood nickname though?

"Something's definitly changed while we where gone" Salix remarked.

After a few moments, Amity walked over to the desk where Eda was.

"Glad to see you kid" she said as she ruffled Amity's hair.

Amelia felt a quick jab in her side, turning to see Salix with the smuggest grin she's ever worn.

"Sense when does your sister fraternize with criminals?" she mocked.

"Shut up."

The two turned back towards the desk.

"I don't care if you're a blight" Warden Wrath growled. "A child is not a valid figure of authority!"  
Eda leaned into Amity's ear and muttered something. The green haired witch sighed and looked Warden Wrath dead in the eye.

"I understand there was a break out a month back, yes?"  
the Wardens face wasn't visible through the mask, but going by the way he straightened up just a little bit, Amity was onto something.  
"What of it?" He asked.  
"Welllll" Amity said, her face betraying no emotion. "It would be a shame if it got out that this breakout was due to your... Infatuation with the Owl Lady."  
A low, menacing growl came from the warden.  
"You wouldn't dare."  
Amity stood her ground.  
"Are you suggesting a Blight would lie?"

The two stared at each other for a long time, neither side backing down.

"Yep, she's definitly a Blight." Salix japed.

Amelia, however, wasn't impressed. "Amity would never- Has never used the family name in order to blackmail anyone..."

Eventually, Warden Wrath caved in.  
"Fine" he grumbled as he leaned back in his chair.

"YOU THERE!" He shouted as he got up. "Get the human prisoner that junkie shared a cell with! I have paperwork to file"

Amelia nodded in conformation as Wrath left the room, slamming the door on his way out.

"Mind if I join you?" Salix asked.

"Alright, but don't touch anything"

* * *

It had only been a couple hours sense Salix went free. But it felt like longer than the entire week she's been in this cell thus far.  
She lay on her bed, trying to burn the time with a nap when the door to her cell slid open.

Looking up, she was Salix accompanied by another guard.  
"Miss me sweetheart?"  
Lucia snorted at her. "Back already?"

Salix simply shrugged. "Life brings many surprises. C'mon, there's someone waiting for you."  
Ok. Now Lucia was confused. Why would anyone be here to get Lucia out.

Cautiously, She grabbed what little she had and Followed Salix and the guard.  
As the group got closer to the entrance. Lucia finally spoke up.  
"So who's getting me out?"  
They turned the corner once more into the entrance hall. At which point, Salix pulled her hands out of her pockets and pointed forward.

"Her"

Ahead of them was someone Lucia recognized. The lady from the tent she first found herself in when she got here.  
And next to her?  
Lucia's blood _froze_ at the sight.

"Luz?"

The young human quickly turned her head towards her older sister. Her eyes beaming and her smile growing when she saw her.

"LUCIA!" She made a mad dash towards her older sister, jumping up and wrapping her arms around the older figure's chest.

"Are you alright? Are you hungry? how did you get here?"

Lucia couldn't help but laugh. She missed her little sister's joyous energy.

"Shouldn't I be asking you those questions?"

Luz blinked at her older sister.

"You where in jail"

Lucia let out an awkward cough as the pair of girls behind her snickered.  
"Fair enough, But still, _what are you doing here?_ "

Luz looked at the ground in shame.

"It's... A long story..."

"Hey." Lucia kneeled down, "It's all right. As long as you're safe. Now let's get home before Mami kills me"

Luz continued to look at her feet.

"Aaaaabout that..."

"You destroyed the portal didn't you?"

"Yes..."

Lucia pinched the bridge of her nose.

"you cabrona" she uttered under her breath.

The older lady stepped Forward.

"Look kid, there's a lot we need to talk about."

"That's one way to put it" Salix interrupted as she pulled the earwig out of her hair. "This better be one hell of a story Willow."  
The guard accompanying them also stepped forward.  
"And mittens, what was that about your leg?"  
The guard lifted their mask, revealing a face startlingly close to Amity's, complete with dyed brown hair.

"A-a-Amelia!" Amity sputtered.

"Miss me sis?"

Amity's eyes darted back and forth for a moment before she leaned towards her eldest sister.

"How much of that did you hear?"

"All of it"

The young witchling bowed her head down in shame. Thankfully Eda interjected before things could get any more awkward.

"Alright, that's enough blabbering. Let's head to my place before Wrath comes back and locks us all up for loitering."

Amelia's face went pale. Her eyes shot wide open as she took a step back.

"Y-Your place?" she asked.

"Yeah, something wrong with that?"

Amelia averted her eyes from the older witch.

"Nope! None at all! I just need to get a change of clothes. BE RIGHT BACK" She said as she dashed towards the guard quarters.

"Well that was weird" Eda remarked. She then noticed a small bead on the desk.

"oooh, shiny!" She quickly made sure there where no guards near by before nabbing it and stuffing it in her hair.

Lucia sighed. She was starting to wonder if it would have been better to stay in that god forsaken cell.


	4. The Reunion

Amelia returned a few minutes later wearing a pink skirt and a white crop top with a HEX logo on the front.  
"Huh, Didn't expect that out of you" Silax remarked.  
The green-haired witch simply glared at her.  
"Blame Steve for not doing laundry today." she said before turning towards Lucia.  
"Here" She formed a small spell circle and dropped Lucia's bat into her hands. "You're going to need this back."  
 _"Not "You might" need this. "You are" going to need this"_ she noted to herself.  
With that in mind, the group headed towards the door to finally leave this titan-forsaken prison.

* * *

Once outside, Eda set her staff in the air and hopped on to it before looking towards the rest of the party.  
"Aaaand there are to many people here to fit."  
She hopped back off her staff and pulled it down.  
"Looks like we're gonna have to walk."  
Lucia sighed before feeling something grab her waist and pull her in.  
"Stick with me, Lucia." She heard Luz say. "I don't want you to get eaten."  
Lucia laughed, but a quick glance down at her younger sister told her that Luz was being compleatly serious.  
Lucky for her, Salix put her hand on Luz shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile.  
"Don't worry kid, we'll make sure she doesn't get eaten."  
Luz nervously let go, before walking forward to hang out with the other witches, while Lucia, Salix, and Amelia held back a bit.  
As the party began to head towards Eda's place, Lucia let out a small sigh.  
"Y'know. I'm pretty sure it's my job make sure she doesn't get eaten. Not the other way 'round."  
Salix nods in agreement.  
"Tell me about it. Willow was never this confident before I went behind bars. I-I'm starting to wonder if she was better off with me in jail."  
"Hey. Don't tell yourself that." Lucia said. "Just because people change while you're gone doesn't mean they where better off without you. Right Amelia?"  
"Hmmm?" Amelia asked. The witch was a bit tense, they both noted. "Oh, yeah. I haven't seen Amity this happy in years."

The group continued walking for a while before making their way into bonesburrough.

"Y'know?" Lucia said as she took in all the sights and sounds. "This place is pretty cool when you're not in a life-or-death situation."  
"Don't set your standards too high." Salix chuckled. "this is the largest town on The Boiling Isles, after all"  
"huh"

A few minutes of chatter later, Luz speaks up for the whole group to hear.  
"Hey, has anyone here eaten lunch yet?"  
Turns out, nobody has, in fact, eaten lunch yet.  
And on that realization, Luz grabbed a small pouch from her pocket before dragging Amity over to a nearby food cart.  
"Y'know. I've always liked trying exotic foods" Lucia remarked as the two witchlings made their order.  
When the two girls came back, Lucia wasn't sure what she was expecting, But she atleast expected it to look like food.  
"Why did you give me an eldritch horror on a stick?" She asked.  
That probably isn't want it was called, but given that it was a large mass of deep-fried tentacles and tongues in the shape of a corn dog, she didn't know how else to describe it.  
"Because it's delicious" Luz responded as she tore into her own.  
Lucia swallowed before she carefully took a bit. She opened her eyes when the flavor met her mouth.  
"Huh" she said as she tore off a larger bite. "Tastes like Chicken."

With lunch in tow, the party continued to walk through town, eventually making their way into the forest as dark clouds gathered over head.  
"Hopefully it doesn't start raining..." Silax muttered. "What do you think Amelia? Amelia?"  
Amelia was visibly tense, her eyes shot back and fourth as though she was going to get attacked any moment, and her breathing was shaky at best.  
"What's gotten your britches in a twist?" Lucia asked.  
Amelia's eyes darted towards the human as though she just pulled out a bloody sword.  
"Nothing-" she responded quickly and meekly. "It's just that-"  
"HOOH BOY! NEW FRIENDS"  
The Shriek of pure horror that came out of the Witch was turned everyone's heads towards her.  
Amelia jumped back about 20 feet as a... bird... tube.... thing stretched towards her.  
"And how are youuuuu doing today?" the tube asked. "Earlier, I found this bug and-"  
"HOOTY!" Amity cried.  
"Relax" said the bird that Lucia and Salix assumed was Hooty. "I'm just making her feel welcome"  
"That is the exact opposite of what you're doing"  
"Whatever" The bird tube turned back towards Amelia. Black, empty eyes staring straight through her soul. "I know, we should have a tea party!"  
"Not the tea party" Amelia cowered. "Anything but the tea party"  
"Do you like Chamomile, or- ACK!"  
Whatever hooty was about to say was cut off as Amity cast a spell circle and formed a giant purple fist to grab the owl by the throat.  
A brief thrashing later, and Hooty pulled himself back inside the door, muttering about how she was no fun.

"You alright?" Salix asked Amelia as she pulled her to her feet.  
Amelia didn't answer, she simply gazed into the abyss as she continued visibly trembling.  
"That... creature" She finally mustered "Has committed countless atrocities"  
Salix and Lucia looked towards the house demon who was now calmly resting within his door. If Amelia had been so terrified of the creature... perhaps it was best not to think of it.  
"C'mon," said Lucia. "Let's get you inside where he can't see you."

* * *

Things inside The Owl House where tense. No one there had seen their sisters in a long while, and things had undoubtedly changed sense then.  
The older girls sat at the couch together, Edalyn sat on her chair with king on her lap, and the younger girls sat around the coffee table.  
Eventually, deciding that she had the most explaining to do, Lucia cleared her throat.  
"So how long have you been here?"  
"A month" Luz responded.  
"I take it you never went to camp then?"  
The younger human stared at floor ashamed.  
"Hey, look at me Luz"  
She brought her eyes upwards. Not quite able to look her sister in the eyes.  
"That camp would have been terrible for you. It would have drained you of everything that made you great in the first place and left you a hollow shell. I'm glad you came here instead."  
A soft smile crept along Luz's chin.  
"Thanks, Luci"  
"I do have to ask though" Lucia continued. "What exactly _Have_ you been doing here?"  
The light that Lucia was oh-so familiar with reignited in Luz's eyes.  
"Learning to do magic of course!"  
This time, It was Amelia who spoke up.  
"That's ridicules. Humans can't do magic."  
Luz ignored her for the time being as she pulled out a pen and paper and began to draw on it. A few moments later the drawing was complete.  
She tapped the paper and watched as it crumbled in on itself, Turning into a small orb of light which she gingerly held between her hands.  
"Eh. I figured it out"  
The older teens where enamored by the light spell. A human casting magic should have been impossible, yet here they are.  
"Well I'll be damned" Salix muttered.  
"Alright." said Lucia. "You gotta teach me how to do that"  
Luz smiled. The idea of teaching her older sister magic isn't one that had crossed her mind before. But now the idea of it sounded wonderful.  
"You should tell me how you got here first" she said. "I get the feeling your story will be shorter."  
Lucia sighed and leaned back into the couch.  
"Not much to explain really" she began. "Got chased by a rabid dog through the some portal, portal closed behind me, Got into a fight with some muggers, and had to stay in prison for a bit due to not having any legal papers."  
After telling her story, Lucia let out a soft groan and leaned forward, putting her head into her hands.  
"what's wrong sis?"  
"I-" Lucia stammered, not quite sure what to say. "I got into a fight with Mami before coming here, I... I stormed out on her, which was when I was attacked by the dog."  
A grim look settled over Luz's face.  
"And now I've gone missing. Vanished off the face of the earth, literally. And now that I've gone missing, She'll probably contact the camp to let you know, and learn that you never arrived."  
She leaned back and let out a forced chuckle.  
"I took away both of Mami's kids that day. One hell of a daughter I am"

Salix reached over and put her hand on Lucia's back. "Hey, we all make mistakes. Hell, we both met because of mine. Whatever happens, we'll find a way to get you home, alright?"  
Lucia took a deep breath, her friend's hand doing wonders to help ground her.  
"Thanks for that" she said. "So. How did you get here?"  
Luz began to explain her story.  
"Well, I was at the bus stop, right? After Mami left for work, I went to go grab my book from the recycling bin (because I had put it there earlier) and it was gone.  
Turns out Owlbert over there had taken it and was pulling it along in a bag. I followed him through the portal, Helped Eda break into prison to get King's crown back,"  
"What crown?"  
"It was destroyed. Anyways, helped get King's crown back, caused a prison break, and ended up staying here to learn magic!"  
Lucia stared at her younger sister. Luz had always been an excitable kid, but this was unmatched. She hadn't even been this excited when explaining the plot of her latest Azura fanfiction when she was younger.  
Amelia, however, Was not amused. "You're lucky Emperor Belos didn't put a bounty on your head."  
Luz shifted nervously. She had entirely forgotten that Amelia was a member of The Emperor's Coven.  
"Lay off her". The voice wasn't Lucia's, but rather Amity's. The young witch stared down her older sister with a fire in her eyes.  
Amelia did what she was told and backed down. She wasn't really afraid of her younger sister, but she was surprised to see her lash out towards her like that.

Lucia cleared her throat.  
"Anyways" she continued. "what happened to the portal?"  
Luz returned to staring at the floor. Her body was tense.  
"EDA GOT CAPTURED!" she finally blurted out.  
"And it was all my fault. I tried to steal the healing hat to cure her curse, then I got captured, and then Eda came to rescue me but used up the last of her magic and got captured herself, so then I went on a rescue mission, but Belos was expecting me and he was too strong and he only let me rescue Eda if I gave him the portal but I couldn't just give it to him so I used my fire glyphs to destroy it."  
Luz caught her breath, tears where starting to form in her eyes now that she had to re-live that experience.

"Wait" Amelia asked. "Why would Emperor Belos want a portal to the human realm?"  
Luz swallowed.  
"I don't know. But whatever reason it was, I couldn't let him have it. Not with Mami and Lucia so close to the other side."

Lucia was about to say something, but was interrupted by Salix.  
"Wait a second. Where you the hooded figure who was running through the conformatorium a few days back?"  
Luz nodded in response.

"Uh huh, uh huh. So what you're saying" She turned towards Amelia, a smug glint shining in her eye.  
"Is that The Emperor's coven. The most elite fighting force on the boiling isles, and some of the few people capable of using all forms of magic, where compleatly decimated by a child who can't even use magic on their own?"  
Amelia's face went crimson,  
"I-well- She-" she stammered. "Prisons are supposed to keep people in. Not out!"  
Nobody in the room bought it, judging by the joyous chortle that erupted from the room

"ANYWAYS" Lucia began once the laughter died down. "How long until we can get a new portal."

It was Eda's turn to speak up this time.  
"Beats me kid. As you might expect from Emperor Bonehead needing mine, these portals are about are rare as they get."  
"Well, where did you get your old one?" Lucia asked.  
"Fished it out of a trash slug. We'd probably make those things go extinct before finding another key in there."  
Lucia sighed. "Right, Any leads then?"  
"Well, We do have one" Eda reached into her hair and threw whatever she fished out onto the table in front of her.  
"You're kidding, right?" Lucia asked. On the table in front of her sat a copy of her sister's favorite book.  
"I wish I was kid. As the two nerds over there realized" She said while gesturing towards Luz and Amity. "Somehow, those books are printed in both our worlds.  
If we can track down the author, then we could probably figure out how to make a new one."  
Lucia nodded along, A spark of hope forming within her before just what Eda said weighed down on her.  
"Wait, _If_ we can track down the author?"  
Eda sighed. "Turns out, nobody actually _knows_ who wrote those books this side of rift."  
Lucia couldn't help but sigh. "Well, atleast it can't get any worse."

_**CRASH** _

Sudden thunder outside caused everyone in the room to jump. The sound of rain slowly began to pick up.

"Aaaaand it got worse" Eda Deadpanned. "It looks like you girls are stuck here tonight. _sigh_ I need to get a shield cast on the house. No funny business, got it?"  
And with that, the elder witch got up, summoned her staff to her side, and went outside.  
"What are you guys stuck here exactly? It's just a bit of rain."  
Luz sighed. "Alright Luci, first rule of Boiling Isles survival. If it sounds anything similar to something we have on earth, it's probably out to kill you"  
"What exactly does that mean?" Lucia asked nervously.  
"The rain's boiling."  
"what?"  
"The rain's boiling."

Lucia looked outside, and sure enough, each drop of rain resulted in a small puff of steam where they landed. Hell, Lucia could even feel the air getting more humid as the rain continued to pour.

"Well" Luz began. "If we're stuck in here, do you guys wanna work on our homework together?"  
The two girls beside her quickly agreed, and the young human stood up and went to grab her supplies.  
"Wait wait wait wait wait wait. Homework?" Lucia was baffled. "Are you saying you go to magic school?"  
"Yep!" Luz responded with glee. "Hexside school of Witchcraft and Demonics. The most _prestigious_ magic school on the boiling isles!"  
"Well I'll be" Lucia muttered to herself as her sister continued going upstairs.

The two younger witches had summoned their homework with a flick of the wrist. Amity had a small cauldron of purple gunk, which she was mixing with ingredients.  
And willow had a notebook and a small potted plant at her side.

"Wait a second" Salix asked. "You're in plant track now?"

Willow's ears perked up at the question. "Yep!"

"When did the pops let that happen?"

Willow scratched her neck nervously. "I... may have switched tracks without telling them"  
Her older sister raised an eyebrow. "Go on." she said.

"Well you see, when me and Luz first met, She helped me cheat on my Abomination's exam. Trust me, it would have been a disaster without her.  
Anyways, after we got caught, I used a Seed that Luz had to cover the Entire school atrium with vines! And Bump was so impressed, he let me switch tracks then and there!"  
Salix let out a long whistle at the story. "Damn, sis. Not bad!"  
Willow smiled brightly at the compliment. "Well, I learned from the best!"  
Salix let out a chuckle at her sister's remark. A few moments later, a large thumping was heard at the stairs, and the older teens in the room recoiled in horror.

Coming down was Luz with what could only be described as a _mountain_ of homework. Half a dozen books, 2 cauldrons, a large ceramic jar, and a potted plant.  
The group continued to stare as Luz walked over to the table and dropped the supplies onto the ground next to her.

"Luz" Amelia asks. "What track are you studying?"  
"All of them"  
"All of them?!" Salix cries. "But all that home work!"  
"Don't worry, It's fun!"

The girls watched in Awe as Luz started her potion over a sheet of paper, poured out a jar full of purple muck into the second cauldron, added various ingredients, and plopped in a wooden spoon that starts stirring on it's own.  
She then started filling out 2 sheets of paper at once, a page with each hand.

"This... Seems unethical" Salix remarks.

"Don't look at me!" Eda says as she comes back inside. "I tried to talk her out of it."  
Amelia scowled. "You should have tried harder. This breaks every coven law The Emperor has in place!"  
"What? No. I tried talking her out of doing the homework." She said as she shook her head. "I would have killed to study every track like her."  
Amelia sighed. Ofcourse, she forgot she was talking to the Wild Witch of Bonesburrough.

"That reminds me" began Salix. "When did you and Amity get back together."  
The two witchlings froze, while Luz continued to bury herself in her homework.

"Oh. Well you see- Funny story"  
"Go on..."  
"I... Might have tried to erase Willow's memory of when I cut ties, and I Miiiiight have erased a bit more than I meant to-"  
Thankfully, before Salix could question (and murder) Amity, Luz spoke up.  
"Her parents blackmailed her into cutting ties with Willow."  
"What" all three elder sisters said in Unison.  
"Is that true Mittens?"  
"I-" Amity sighed, knowing there was no point in hiding it any more. "Yes. They said if I didn't cut ties with Willow, then they would keep her from enrolling in Hexside."  
Salix and Lucia's mouths went dry, while a long-dormant fire ignited in Amelia's eyes.  
"Why those- I swear to the Titan they are so lucky I'm trapped by this fucking rain."  
Amity raised her hand. "I know you're mad Amelia, but please don't fight them. You'd only make things worse."  
Amelia took a deep breath and calmed herself. As much as she hates to admit it, Amity was right. Her parents probably didn't know about them patching things up, and letting them know with a burn scar wouldn't help in the slightest.

* * *

Luz finished her homework over the next couple hours. Light chatter filled the room as the sky grew darker and dinner was prepared.

"I hope you girls like hash" Eda called from the kitchen "Because potatoes are the only thing I have enough of to feel all of you"

The hash itself seemed... Normal, to Lucia. Shredded and fried potatoes mixed with ground meat and seasoning.  
Barring Luz's advice from earlier. She had a quick taste and it tasted... Like a hash.

she eagerly dug into the rest of the meal. That is, until, she nearly shattered a tooth on something.  
"The hell is this?" She asked as the pulled a hard, shiny chunk of something out of her teeth.  
"oops, my bad" Eda said. "I must have missed part of the shell"  
"Shell?" Lucia was starting to feel queezy.  
"Oh right. You don't have spidercows in the human world, do you?"  
Lucia barely manages to keep what she's already eaten down.

 _"It still tastes good it still tastes good it still tastes good"_ she repeatedly thought to herself.

* * *

As the night wore on, Everyone got changed into their pajamas and settled down.  
Lucia didn't bring any clothes with her, so Salix summoned an extra set of hers. They where a bit loose on the human's smaller frame. But they where comfortable none the less.  
They had a bit of extra time before they needed to go to sleep, and thus opted to watch a movie on the crystal ball.

"Hey Lucia" Luz muttered as to not disturb the others.  
"Hmmmm?"  
"I know it's wrong but- if I'm trapped here, then I'm glad you're with me."  
Lucia looked down at her younger sister, tears reflecting the gentle glow of the crystal ball.  
"Things where... rough the first couple of days after destroying the portal. Never seeing you or Mami again... It scared me."  
The older human pulled Luz into a hug.  
"Don't worry about it sis. We'll figure out a way back. I promise."  
"I know we will. Eda's the smartest witch I know. But still, How long will it take? How will Mami handle both of us disappearing?"  
"Calm down Luz. Mami's strong. She'll survive long enough for us to get back."  
"Thanks Luci"

Luz's tears slowly stopped flowing. As she leaned into her older sister, she slowly drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

"Night sis." Lucia muttered before leaning back and falling asleep herself.


	5. The New Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being late on this one. Life's been kicking my ass.

Lucia woke up with a stiff neck and a dry throat. As she sat up and rubbed her head, the day's previous events played on repeat in her mind.  
"Prison release, Luz, no way home" was what it really came down too.  
Opening her eyes, Lucia saw that Luz had since run off somewhere, but everyone else was still asleep. So, the human carefully got up and made her way to the kitchen.  
After rummaging around the fridge for a minute, Lucia eventually settled on what looked like a box of apple juice  
A few moments later Salix entered the kitchen herself, looking as though she had a case of bed head over her entire body.  
Lucia felt something in the pit of her stomach, a feeling she quickly drowned in the rest of the juice box.  
"How are you liking the apple blood?" Salix asked.  
"you mean apple juice?"  
"No"  
Salix chuckled as the human gingerly put the blood box down and pushed it away from her.  
"Any idea what's for breakfast?" she asked.  
"Not a clue"

A light chatter filled the kitchen for a few minutes before Luz came bounding down the stairs.  
"Good morning!" She said to the two girls in the kitchen.  
Lucia let out a stiff yawn "How are you already so perky?"  
"Oh, actually I got up a couple hours ago."  
That's even worse! Salix said as she banged her head against the table.  
"Anyways, do you know where The Owl Lady is?"  
"She went to go get breakfast for everyone. Not enough potatoes for another batch of hash."  
As if on Queue, Eda kicked the kitchen door open.  
"Hey Luz, get out here!" She cried with a fevorant glee.  
Luz shot to her feet and dashed out the door, with the other two girls following behind to see what all the fuss was about.  
Out side, a scorch mark lay in the grass. Presumably from where a bolt of lightning had struck the ground. And within the scorch mark was... a pattern?

"What's so special about a lightning strike?" asked Salix.  
Luz let out an excited squeal.  
"OOOOOH. Alright. How would you two like your first lesson in Human magic!"  
the two older girls looked at each other.  
"Well, I'm down." Grinned Lucia  
The witch accompanying her performed a quick spell circle to create her Lucia a stump to sit on.  
"Mind if I join? this seems interesting enough"  
Luz seemed to beam even brighter at the question.  
"Alright then. Welcome to your first lesson on the lost art of Glyph magic!"  
Lucia wasn't exactly a star student, but given Luz's sheer enthusiasm for the subject, she got the feeling things would be a bit different here.  
"Right, before we begin. Do you know anything about Magic works already?"  
The older sister scratched her chin.  
"Well, I did an exposition dump from her" she said as she gestured her thumb towards the witch beside her.  
"Witches have some sort of organ attached to their hearts that lets them do magic, right?"  
Luz nodded in approval.  
"Correct. Now obviously us humans don't have a magic bile sack. So, us humans have to cut out the middle man."  
Salix quirked an eye brow. Given that humans have no magic to speak of, she would have assumed it would take an extra middle man or two.  
Before she could ponder that thought, however, Luz gestured them over to the scorch mark.  
"All magic on the isles comes from the titan. And as such, magic can be found everywhere on the isles. Really, it's just a matter of knowing where to look."  
The young girl gestured towards the scorch mark as she pulled out a pen and note pad. With a few quick scribbles, she re-crated the pattern that presented itself in the charred ground.  
When she was done, she pressed her hand against the paper, causing it to emit a gentle light.  
As the glyph lit up, it began to crumple in on itself similarly to the light glyph. But while the light glyph was gentle, this new glyph practically tore itself apart as it activated.  
Once it was done, an orb of pure electricity hovered above the young girls hand. It radiated with pure, magical potential that caused everyone's hair to stand on end.

"Now you try, Lucia!" said Luz as she handed her older sister the supplies.  
Lucia took them gingerly, not wanting to shock herself on the orb still hovering above her sister's hands.  
Carefully, she drew the symbol in the mark onto her paper. When she was done, she tapped the paper, and as she did, a familiar glow enveloped the glyph. Within a matter of moments, the paper collapsed in on itself and a second orb of pure energy formed.  
"Wow" Lucia stared in awe at the small orb she created. It was one thing to watch someone else do magic, but to do it yourself? to feel that raw, primal power flow into and through you? it was something else.  
"You did it..." Luz muttered. "YOU DID IT LUCIA! You're a natural!"  
She was about to pull her sister into a hug until Lucia held her at arms length.  
"Calm down sis. Balls of lightning, remember?"  
"Oh, right" Luz chucked.

As the two of them laughed over the new spell, Amelia came storming out of the house with a tired look on her face.  
"Can you keep it down with the noise please?" She asked.  
Lucia, however, didn't listen. Instead, an idea sparked in her head.  
"What are you doing?" the green-haired witch said as the human approached her with a mischievous glint in her eye.  
As Lucia approached, she held the orb of lightning up towards the witches hair.  
Amelia skirted back, not wanting to get a face full of electricity. However, the proximity to the orb was more than enough, as the witch's hair began to stand on end, causing the large, already dense mane to puff up to unreasonable sizes.

The group couldn't help but laugh, even Amelia joined in once Salix handed her a mirror.  
"Alright, that's enough fooling around kids." Eda said as she finally got her chuckling under control. "Let's eat before Breakfast gets cold"  
The two humans began to walk towards the door before stopping and looking at each other.  
"What's wrong?" Eda asked.  
Lucia was the first to speak up.  
"How do we get rid of these?"

* * *

Thankfully, Getting rid of them was as simple as lowering them to the ground.  
As the group went back inside, Luz and Eda began to spread breakfast over the table.  
Lucia wasn't sure what to eat. The more unusual foods definitly didn't interest her, and she wasn't sure if she trusted the more human-like foods after the spider shell incident.  
After a moment, she ended up settling on a simple piece of toast.  
"Is there any jelly?" She asked Luz.  
"Yep!" She said as she reached over to another bag. "Apple blood, Scary Cherry, or Graping maw?"  
 _"What the fuck are those flavors?"_ Lucia thought to herself.  
"Uhhhh, Let's do Graping maw"  
Luz nodded and tossed her sister a packet of jelly, which Lucia caught and immediately dropped onto the table when she realized the "packet" was actually an Eye ball.  
"What the FUCK Luz?" she cried as she clutched her heart. She could have sworn the eye was staring straight at her.  
"Hmmm?" Luz looked up as she squeezed one of the eye balls onto her own piece of toast, and then tossed the emptied membrane straight into her mouth.  
Lucia simply gave up. Letting out a massive sigh and slamming her head into the table, thus covering her forehead in jelly as it landed apon the eyeball she discarded. Much to Salix's delight.  
As the rest of the guests poured into the kitchen and got their breakfasts, Luz decided to spark the conversation.  
"So, what's everyone's plans for today?"

"I have to help my dads with Chores" said Willow  
"My parents are out of town for the week, so I'm free if you want to do something!". Lucia could have sworn she saw a slight blush crawl up Amity's face.  
"I have to get back to the conformatorium before my shift starts" said Amelia as she grabbed a piece of toast and left through the back door.  
Eda let out a long sigh. "Me and King have got errands to run."  
"Hey, Why do I have to help?!" shouted the small demon defiantly.  
"Because I said so. Anyways, I need to get you two legal papers, do a bit of shopping, and nab another bed from Lily."  
"Lily?" Lucia's curiosity was peaked.  
"My sister. She owes us."  
"What for?"  
"Oh, you know. Cursing me, hunting me, capturing me, nearly getting me petrified, throwing Luz off a bridge, that kind of thing."  
Lucia's blood froze at that last one.  
"She _what?_ "  
Before she could grab her bat and commit a war crime, Luz grabbed her wrist to stop her.  
"Don't worry, we worked it out."  
Lucia simply stared at her younger sister like she grew a second head.  
"She threw you off a bridge and you _worked it out?_ "  
"Look kid, I don't get it either. _But_ Lily did sacrifice her place in the coven and her magic to save me. So I'm not really in a spot to feed her to Hooty."  
Lucia put her head into her palm as Salix rubbed her back. She didn't want to admit it, but it did make her feel a bit better.  
"Anyways." Luz continued. "Wanna learn some more magic?"  
"Alright. Why not?" Lucia said. Anything to get her mind off of what she was just told.

* * *

Luz spent the next couple hours teaching Lucia about glyph magic as Amity and Salix watched along.  
Turns out, when you're not single-handedly discovering an ancient and lost art, glyphs are pretty easy to learn. Lucia quickly learned how to draw the various glyphs, what they do, and how to bend the effects to her will.  
As Lucia began to work on her plant glyphs, an idea began to form in the back of her mind.  
"Hey Luz, do you know if there are any potatoes left?"  
Luz thought for a moment before answering.  
"I think there should be, why?"  
Without answering, Lucia quickly dashed towards the kitchen and came out with several potatoes, a couple plates, and a knife.  
"Can you get me some ink or paint?" She asked as she sat down.  
"Uhhh, alright"  
As Luz went to grab those, Lucia sat down and began to work on a large spud. First cutting it in half, and then carving out a light glyph from the rest of of it. by the time Luz returned with the ink, Lucia had finished her carving.  
She grabbed the ink from her little sister and poured it into the smaller dish.  
"Let's see if I did this right" she said as she dunked the carved potato into the ink. Making sure none would drip off, she dragged the potato over to a sheet of paper, stamping it down and leaving an inky imprint on the surface.  
A quick blowdown to make sure it was dry, and Lucia tapped the glyph, causing it to crumple and float upwards.  
"Well that aught to make things a bit faster" she remarked.

With this revolutionary new method of creating glyphs, the whole gang got to work. Lucia and Salix carved the potatoes, while Luz and Amity stamped them into note pads.  
Within half an hour, they had managed to stuff several note pads with glpyhs.  
"Wow, that was fast" Luz remarked "I think that was one of the best ideas you've ever had, Lucia"  
The older human chuckled. "And with that, I've officially used what I've learned in Highschool art more than I've used Highschool math."

As they chatted, the turning of the door nob alerted the girls to a new presence.  
"EDA EDA EDA!" Luz cried as she dashed for her mentor and shoved a note pad in her face.

"Jeez kid, slow down" said the older witch while holding the girl at arm's length. "Now, what is it you want to show me?".

Luz handed Eda the note pad as she flipped through it.  
"Lucia had the great idea of using potato stamps to mass-produce the glyphs!"  
"Dang kid" she turned towards Lucia. "That's pretty smart."  
"Thanks"  
"Anyways, I still got a couple things I need to do, but I wanted to stop by and give you these while I'm waiting for my appointment"  
Eda reached into her hair and pulled out a pair of scrolls, handing one to each of the Noceda sisters.  
Luz was beaming. "WOOOOOOOAH. THANK'S EDA!"  
"Don't mention it kid. I figured sense there where two of you now-" Eda paused, catching her tongue before she said _"and now that your stay might be a bit more permanent"_ , "I figured I'd make sure you can keep in touch."  
Lucia quirked her brow at the odd sentence structure, but Luz didn't question it.

Amity and Salix helped the two humans get everything set up. Once H-mails where set up and Penstagram accounts where made, the witches showed them how to use the customization feature.  
Lucia went with a simple red hue for her scroll, while Luz gave her scroll the pattern of the Bi pride flag.

After all was said and done, Salix got up and stretched. "Well, that was fun. But I gotta go. Need to make sure there's nothing at the house that needs done before nightfall."  
"I can give you a hand if you want" Lucia remarked.  
Salix thought for a moment before answering.  
"Sure, why not?" she said. "Might need help fighting off any squatters"

* * *

Salix's cottage was, conveniently, only a few miles away. As the two of them walked through the forest path, they soon found themselves approaching the old shack.  
It was a modest, albeit time-worn cottage, with white paneling and... where those chitin shingles?

"Any serial killers in there?" Lucia chuckled as they approached.  
"Hopefully not"

Admittedly, not quite the answer she was hoping for.

The two went inside. A fine layer of had settled over everything, and there was a bit of water damage on the ceiling. But other than that? It looked pretty good.

"So how did you get this place?" Lucia asked as she pulled out a light glyph to illuminate the darkening room.

"Found it while doing a bit of exploration."

"What about the guy who built it?"

Salix looked over from the kitchen. "I'm assuming they're the skeleton I found in the bed with a bird's nest in it's rib cage."

Lucia shuddered. "Please tell me you got a new mattress."

"Nope, just flipped it over."

The human sighed as she heard shouting from the kitchen.

"C'MON! GET OUT OF HERE! SHOO!" Salix cried as she chased a group of rat demons out of the kitchen and out the door.

"I see you found the squatters"

"Yep" Salix said while Popping the P.  
The Witch walked towards the fridge, and judging by the open door, Lucia was guessing that's where the rats came from.

"gaaaaahhh" she growled "Those bastards blew the cooling system."   
Salix scowled as she began to pull out the nesting. "I won't be able to get that repaired for weeks!"

Lucia didn't usually like to get herself involved when someone was mad. But the earlier day's lessons gave her an idea.

"Can I try something?" she asked carefully.

Salix stepped aside, both curious, and knowing that the human couldn't really make things worse.  
Lucia carefully brushed the remaining filth away before reaching for her note pad. After fishing around it for a few moments, she grabbed a few ice glyphs and put them on the bottom of the fridge.  
 _"Focus and intent"_ she thought to herself, thinking of what Luz taught her. As she pressed her hand against the paper slips, she once again felt the rush of magic flow through her and into the glyphs.  
As she lifted her hand, no ice formed, but the air got noticeably cooler around the glyphs. Satisfied with her work, Lucia shut the fridge door and turned back towards her friend.

"Alright. That should keep things cool enough. I'll try and figure out a more permanent solution once I'm better with these things."  
To say Salix was impressed would put it lightly.  
"Damn, Lucia. You're a life saver."  
"Don't mention it"

The two of them spent the rest of the day tidying up. Thankfully the rats from earlier where the only squatters that they found.

"It's getting a bit late" Lucia said as she looked out the window. "I should head back."

"Cool. Thanks for all the help today"

"Not a problem."

As Lucia walked out the door to head home, Salix called out to her.

"Hey, make sure you come around often, Alright?"

The human felt her heart flutter at the request,

"Yeah! Yeah. I'll be sure to do that."

"Alright, See you around."

"See ya!"

As Salix walked back inside, Lucia turned towards the way she came and let out a long breath.

"What the hell was that about?" she asked herself as she thought of how her heart reacted to Salix asking her to visit frequently.

* * *

The sun had just lowered over the horizon by the time Lucia got back.  
"I'm home!" she said as she walked through the door.

"Welcome back kid. Anything eventful happen?"

Lucia shrugged. "Not much. Was able to practice my glyphs some more though."

Eda nodded in approval. "Not bad. I managed to get the papers in order, and nabbed that bed from my Sister's place."

"Thanks Eda. Say, where's Luz?"

"She had "Azura book club" With Chocomint at the library. Probably fell asleep in their secret room again."

Lucia chuckled. "Those two really get along, huh?"

"Oh. You have no idea." Eda remarked with a sly grin. "Honestly, I'm surprised their not dating yet. you'd honestly mistake Amity for a tomato any time Luz does something mildly interesting."  
"Yeah, Luz has never really been the best when it comes to emotions."  
The human stretched and rolled her shoulders.  
"I should probably get to bed" she said. "All that cleaning really took it out of me."

Eda then led Lucia to her room. There where still a few boxes in the corners, but the bed in the center of the room looked incredibly soft.

"Hey, Lucia" Eda began. "I know it's not a lot, but feel free to look through my human junk. You might find something you like in there."

"Thanks, Eda." Lucia smiled.

Eda asked if Lucia needed anything else, and when she said no, she left the human to her own devices.

Lucia got back into the pajamas that Salix let her keep. As she slipped under the covers, the small dog demon hopped onto her mattress and curled himself up at her feet.  
"What are you doing?" she asked.

"A true king must always protect their loyal subjects from the terrors of the night."

Lucia couldn't help but laugh.

"Thanks, your majesty"

As the days events played through her mind, Lucia couldn't help but think about her mother.

"I'm sorry, Mami." she whispered to herself. "I promise I'll find a way back to you."


	6. The Job

Lucia wasn't quite sure what to do with herself. She often struggled with this question back in her world, and with Luz at school and her now trapped in an alternate dimension, that question has only become harder to answer.  
So here she was. lying on a couch, King sleeping in her lap, and watching a shitty-ass soap opera on a crystal ball. Atleast the two worlds had something in common.

The peace, however, was soon interrupted when Eda walked in from the kitchen.

"Hey kid," She asked, Concern lacing her voice. "You didn't bring anything with you from your world, did you?"  
"No, why?"  
"I'm guessing that means you didn't bring any clothes then?"  
Lucia paused. Truth be told, she was pretty used to making due with minimum supplies. She only did laundry about once a month during her travels, and you could only do so much in Gas station bathrooms.  
"No, I guess I didn't." she finally responded.  
"and I'm also guessing you didn't bring a tooth brush."  
Lucia simply shook her head at that question.  
Eda let out a long sigh. "Well then, I guess we're going shopping today."

* * *

The flight to Bonesburrough was, to put simply, Exhilarating. Despite how unstable a staff should be on paper, Owlbert was incredibly smooth in his flight. And Lucia found it unusually easy to balance herself.  
As Eda pulled them down into town, Lucia almost tripped on her own legs as she hopped off the staff. Her knees feeling like Jelly underneath her.

"That was..." The human began. "Wow"  
"you'll get used to it kid" Eda remarked. "Now C'mon, time's wasting and I don't want to be here longer than we have to."

* * *

Every trip to Bonesburrough seemed to bring Lucia a new experience. The first time she was there she was fighting for her survival, as far as she was concerned.  
The second trip she was able to take the city in a bit more, but for the most part, she was distracted by the fact that Luz was somehow also here.  
But now that she was here as a shopper, just as everyone else? It honestly felt like the shopping strips back home. The small restaurants tucked between larger stores, the children practically dragging their parents into the toy shops.

"OI! WATCH IT!" A large, burly demon shouted as Lucia ran straight into him.

Yep, just like back home.

As the two made their way through town, they eventually reached the shop that Eda seemed to be heading for.

"All Seeing Outfitters" Lucia read off the sign. "That's not ominous at all"

Eda scoffed as the two walked inside. Sitting behind a counter was a large, brown demon with a single eye who was covered in thorns.

"Ah! Edalyn Clawthorne" he said as they entered the building. "How have things been sense your pardon?"  
"Not bad, Harold. though truth be told, I miss being the most wanted criminal on the boiling isles. Really spiced things up, you know?"  
Herold let out a deep chortle. Lucia flinched as the demon's plentiful spine clattered together.  
"Anyways" he continued "What brings you in today?"  
Eda let out a long sigh. "Well Harold, turns out another kid managed to slip through my portal before it got destroyed. And unlike Luz, this one didn't bring anything with her."  
Harold turned his large eye towards Lucia, twitching it as he looked over the girl.  
"I see" he said. "If those are the only clothes she has, then I'd say a weeks worth of outfits and a pair of pajamas should be good for now."  
Eda thought for a moment before nodding in approval.  
"Yep, that sounds about right" she said.  
Harold looked back towards the human and gestured for her.  
"come here please." the demon asked.  
Lucia obliged and approached the desk. Harold pulled a crystal ball out from under the counter and placed his hands upon it. As he did so, his eye began to glow a deep purple, practically crackling with the arcane energy flowing through him.

When he was done, the light faded from his eyes and he put the crystal ball back.  
"Alright" Harold began. "We should have the order ready by this weekend."  
"Wait wait wait" Lucia asked. "Don't you have to like, take measurements, or something?"  
The demon simply shook his head.  
"Already did" he said as he gestured back towards the ball. "I also took a quick dip into your psyche to determine what styles you'd like."  
Lucia nodded along to this information before realizing something.  
"Wait a second. Did you read my mind?" She asked as she pulled her beanie over her ears.  
"Oh no no no no no" Harold said with a slight panic. "That is several levels of illegal that would get me in way more trouble than it's worth. Think of it more like reading the summery of a book. You get an idea of what the story's like, but what actually happens in it is anyone's guess."  
Lucia felt a little bit better. But she still kept her beanie tight over her head.

Eda grabbed Lucia a couple extra tunics to hold her over until the order was done. The total for all the clothes ended up being about 300 snails. A cost that Eda payed without complaint, but still made Lucia wince a bit.  
As the two women took their leave and went to the next destination, Lucia finally spat out what's been gnawing at her.

"I need to get a job" she deadpanned.  
Eda looked at her with a quirked eyebrow. "And why is that?"  
"You saw how much money you just spent on me. I can't just freeload off you like that."  
The elder witch scoffed.  
"Please. Your sister's been freeloading off me for a month. One more isn't gonna put a dent in anything."  
"But I-"  
"Besides." Eda continued. "It's my fault your stuck here in the first place. It would be wrong of me to not keep you afloat."  
Lucia sighed out, defeated.  
"Fine." she continued. "But in that case, I want a job for pocket money."  
Eda didn't complain about that. She could respect the hustle, after all.

* * *

Turns out, job hunting was _hard_. Just about every job notice Lucia saw posted required either magic which she didn't have. Or required the immense physical strength of a demon, which she also didn't have.  
"How old do you have to be to apply for disability benefits?" Lucia asked Eda. Given how dependent this place seemed to be on magic, she figured she might aswell shoot for it.  
"Twenty-one" The older witch responded  
Welp, that was out of the question then.

The two of them continued on their way, stopping by a general goods shop to get a tooth brush, among other things. As Lucia looked over yet another job flier that she wasn't eligible for, she found herself walking straight into a wheelbarrow.  
"Are you alright?" Salix asked as Lucia rubbed her hips where she made impact.  
"yeah, I'm good. What are you doing here?"  
"Getting supplies to get the farm up and running." she said as she gestured towards the wheelbarrow full of fertilizer, seeds, and god knows what else. "What about you."  
"Not much," Lucia remarked. "Just getting some clothes, some toiletries, and looking for a job"  
"Any luck on that last one?"  
The human simply scoffed.  
"I'm pretty sure this island would come back to life before I could find one, given the current rate."

Salix leaned against the wheelbarrow as she pondered for a minute.  
"I could hire you."

Lucia looked up from the job flier and stared at the witch.  
"Really?!?" She asked, mouth agape.

"Ofcourse. I mean, I could always use a hand running things. And you've got plant magic, which is like, 90% of the job."

Lucia gawped a bit as she thought about it. Working on a farm isn't something that ever occurred to her. But at the same time, she's always enjoyed spending time outdoors. And she's got magic, which would help a lot of the more laberous parts of farming...  
"Alright, I'm in." she finally settled on. "When do we start?"  
"Right now, if you're free."  
The human looked towards Eda, Who quickly summoned Owlbert to her side and hooked the bags to his staff.  
"Go wild kid" she said with a wicked grin.

"Thanks Eda!" Lucia cried with a calm glee as she handed the witch her own bags.

* * *

The two women arrived to the cottage a half hour later. They unloaded the supplies into the shed before getting on with it.

"So what now?" Lucia asked as she set the last bag of manure down.

"Now" Salix began as she drew a spell circle in the air, dropping Lucia's bat into her hands. "We start weeding."

* * *

Weeding fucking sucks.

Most of the weeds where easy, A quick plant glyph and they would move themselves into the first. Ofcourse, that said nothing of the creatures who lived in the weeds, who weren't fond of the sudden eviction.  
And then there where the plants that fought back themselves, as Lucia learned the hard way. The human grimaced as she wrapped the bandage around her arm where a Snapdragon managed to get a bite off.

Salix approached the human as she finished wrapping her arm and placed an ice glyph on the bandage to cool the wound.

"Thanks for not using any fire glyphs" She said. "That would have been really messy".

"Hey, Belive it or not, even I can recognize a bad idea when I see one."  
Salix chuckled at the remark. A sound that Lucia definitly wanted to hear more of.

* * *

Thankfully, the rest of the work was much less violent than the weeding. As Lucia expected, the addition of magic greatly cut down on the time and manual labor.  
A plant glyph allowed Lucia to use dense vines to quickly mix the fertilizer into the topsoil in neat rows, allowing her to do the task in only a few minutes.

The human grabbed a packet of Bone pepper seeds (presumably they where like bell peppers) and started to dig a hole in one of the spots Salix marked.

"Careful" the witch in question said from behind Lucia.  
"I'm not sure how plants are in your world, but magical plants can be a bit finicky."  
As Salix kneeled down to show Lucia how to plant the seeds properly, Lucia felt her face go red as the Witch's body pressed against her own.  
Luckily, Salix didn't seem to notice, as she continued to show Lucia proper seed planting techniques.

"you got that?" she asked when she was done.

"Uhhh, YEAH! yeah. I think I got it."  
Lucia cleared her throat as she got back to planting, making sure to put the seeds in the right position so the peppers didn't get scoliosis.

* * *

As the day stretched on, the two of them got the rest of the crops planted, watered, and tended too.  
"Thanks for the help" Salix remarked with glee. "That would have taken waaay longer without you."  
"Hey, you're the one who hired me" Lucia winked back.  
Salix let out a small laugh. Yep, it was definitly something Lucia wanted to hear more often.  
"Anyways" the witch continued. "It's going to be a few weeks until the first harvest is ready"  
"Damn, that's it?" Lucia asked.  
"Yep. Still plenty to do until then though."  
"Nice." The human remarked. "I should probably get going, see you tomorrow?"  
"I'd hope so, given that I'm paying you for this."

The two gave their final farewells before Lucia made the trek back towards The Owl House. When she got home, she went straight to the bathroom to take a shower. Truthfully, It was the cleanest that Lucia had felt in months.  
As she crawled into bed, she once again found herself thinking of the day's events. How enthralling Bonesburrough was, how Salix gave her a job, how her laugh made Lucia's heart flutter, how her eyes sparkled like-  
 _"Wait a fucking second"_  
Lucia's eyes shot open as she finally connected the dots. She buried herself deeper into the covers as she let out a tired groan.  
"Fuck my gay ass" she muttered to herself.


	7. The Dinner

Several weeks had gone by sense Lucia and Salix got the farm up and running. It was calming work, unless you where fighting off a feral demon that wanted to eat the crops. But other than that, it was calming work.  
Lucia had prayed that the work would distract her from her crush on Salix. But unfortunately, it only seemed to make things worse.

The two of them where currently walking towards the town market, their first viable harvest in tow.  
Lucia was indefinitely thankful that Salix was walking ahead of her. No doubt that the plant witch would have instantly caught her staring.

As they approached the market, Lucia noticed that Salix had set the stall up ahead of time.  
"Here" said witch said as she handed Lucia a list. "I already sorted the prices out."  
Lucia nodded as she looked over the list, and began to label the produce baskets as Salix filled them.  
"Hey, question." The human began. "Are taxes included in the price tag? or no?"  
"They are" a third voice called out as a coven guard walked up behind them.

"Oh, Hey Amelia" Salix said as she looked up from the produce. "What brings you here?"  
The guard lifted up her mask to reveal her flowing mint hair.  
"I transferred to town guard so I could spend more time with Amity. She's- She's changed a lot sense I started working at the Conformatorium."  
The other two girls nodded along at the last remark.  
"I think we both feel you there" Lucia remarked. "So where have you been staying?"  
"I moved back in with my parents. Turns out they haven't even touched my bedroom."

"And how has that been going?" Salix grimaced, remembering how Amity told them that they forced her to cut ties with her little sister.  
"They're... Worse than I remember" Amelia admits. "They've always been strict, but it's starting to feel a bit suffocating, you know?"  
Lucia shifted uncomfortably. She may have only had a mother for most of her life, But atleast that mother loved her and Luz dearly.

"Anyways" Amelia continues. "I gotta get back to work. Good luck with the produce stand."  
And with that, she put her mask back on and continued to her patrol routes.

* * *

As Amelia wished, the two had very good luck with the stand. By the time the market started to close up, the two of them had sold most of their stock, and made a good first impression on a good few customers.

"Two-seventy, Two-Eighty, Two-Ninety, Three Hundred!" Salix cried out after counting the day's earnings.  
"I'm assuming that's a lot?" Lucia asked, still not quite sure how Snails compared to America's dollars.  
Salix nodded as she began to sort the coins.  
"It's pretty good, especially sense we don't have to worry about groceries much. And now here-" she said as she handed the human a pile of coins. "-Is your cut."  
Lucia took the pile of coins and counted them, her eyes shooting open when she realized how much the witch gave her.  
"I can't take a 50/50 split!" she cried out.  
"Why not?"  
"Because it's your farm!"  
Salix let out a stiff chuckle.  
"You're right. It is my farm. And because it's my farm, I can decide how much my employees are paid. And given that you did half the work, I say you get half the money."  
Lucia grumbled as she shoved the coins into her pocket defeatedly. Maybe she would sneak a few of them into the witch's bag while she wasn't looking.

"And also because it's my farm, I say we celebrate our first big harvest! I know a great spot not far from here. What do you say?"  
Lucia could practically feel her heart stop.  
"Dinner?"  
"Mmmhhmmm"  
"Just the two of us?"  
"Mmmhhmm?"

"I-well, I- OK!"  
Salix's face turned into an intoxicating smile. "Right, Follow me then!"  
Lucia nearly collapsed on the spot.  
"I'm not surviving tonight, am I?"

* * *

After a few minutes of walking, the pair arrived an unnamed tavern. As they walked inside, Lucia found it was a simple establishment. Various stuffed demon heads adorned the candle-lit walls, the smell of roasting meats and root vegetables wafted out of the kitchen, and a large octopus-like demon was on vocals, drums, keyboard, _and_ guitar.  
As they sat down at a table in the corner, One of the waitresses quickly arrived to serve them.  
"And what can I get you two darlin's to drink? Beer? Wine? Apple Blood?" she asked.  
Lucia quirked an eyebrow as she turned towards Salix.  
"How old do you have to be to drink alcohol here?"  
"18" The witch asked as she ordered a water for herself.  
"Huh" The human leaned back in her chair. "I guess I'll take the apple blood then."  
The waitress nodded and went back to the kitchen to get the drinks.  
"How old do you have to be to get it in your world?"  
"Depends where you live, But for me it would be 21"  
"Damn." Salix remarked as she leaned back in her chair with the menu.  
"What about you?" Lucia asked. " not getting any drinks tonight?"  
The witch across from her simply shook her head at the prospect.  
"I'm not touching any intoxicant with a 10 foot poll after last time."

Lucia cleared her throat as she went back to reading the menu.  
After the waitress brought them their drinks and gave them a few more minutes to look at the menu, the human found herself subconsciously looking up and staring at Salix.  
Her short navy hair, her plump cheeks,  
"Lucia?"  
Her stout, adorable ears,  
"Luuuucia?"  
The way her emerald eyes practically danced in the candle light  
"LUCIA!"

The human was knocked out of her stupor by the witch across from her.  
"Eh? huh? what?"  
"I asked what you wanted to eat."  
"Oh, uhh. Yeah, I'll go with the druid's pie."  
Salix nodded at the choice, opting to go with the spider skellington herself.

"Hey, uhhh" Lucia began. "Do you listen to girl in red, by chance?"  
Salix quirked her head a bit at the question. "Who?"  
The human scolded herself. Ofcourse she wouldn't have heard of a singer from another world. To bad any and all subtly died with that.  
"Right, errr. Do you like girls? as in, like like them?"

At the question, Salix leaned back into her chair and thought for a second.  
"I mean" she began. "I don't really have a preference, all things considered. But yeah, I do. Why do you ask?"  
Lucia, realizing she backed herself into the corner, Took a swig of her apple blood to steal her nerves.

"Look, the truth is... I like you. A lot."  
Salix's eyes widened a bit at this revelation.  
"You sure that isn't the apple blood talking?"  
The human snorted at the prospect.  
"Please. This stuff's the only reason I have the confidence to be talking right now!"  
And then, as if by divine intervention, the waitress from before came back to the table with some news.  
"Apologies darling, but I accidently gave you the soft apple blood. Want me to swap it out for ya?"  
Lucia simply sighed and threw her arm and head onto the table.  
"No. I'm good"

Once the waitress left and Lucia re-gained her bearings, she continued pouring her heart out to the girl she fell for.  
"It's just- You're smart, pretty, kind, you gave me a job. I don't know how I couldn't have fallen for you!"  
Salix leaned back in her chair, scratching her chin as she contemplated the information she was just told.

"I know you probably don't like me back. I just needed to get that off my chest."  
Salix, however, remained silent, deep in thought. It was only for a few seconds, but it felt like hours to Lucia.

"Who says I don't like you back?"  
"Wait what?"

"Well, truth be told" Salix began. "I honestly have no clue what liking someone is actually supposed to feel like. But I do think there might be something there for you."  
Lucia had stopped breathing by this point, but she didn't really care.  
"I mean, you are cute, and we spent a whole week in a prison cell together, yet I never felt the need to stab you. So that's a start."  
The human, however, toned out after the first part of that.  
"You think I'm cute?" she asked with a nervous blush.  
Salix quickly returned the blush.  
"I did say that, didn't I?"

The two sat in an awkward silence for a few moments before the plant witch finally coughed to break it.  
"Anyways" she continued. "I wish you had told me earlier. I would have definitly chosen a more romantic place for dinner."

Lucia could only scoff.  
"Candle lit dinner, live music, mounted demon skulls. What could be more romantic than that?"  
"The brothel a few streets over makes a good chocolate cake" Salix shrugged.  
Lucia choked on her own spit at that remark.  
"I am... very concerned by the fact that you know that."  
The witch chuckled at her panic.  
"I turned Eighteen and wanted to try something new. Truth be told, it was rather underwhelming."

Thankfully, before that conversation could go anywhere else, the waitress returned to the table with their dinners.

"Soooo, what now?" Lucia asked as she dug into her meal.  
"Well, what do you want to do?"  
The human across from her quirked her head at the question.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well" Salix continued. "If you're going to confess your love to me, then I'd say we should make this a proper date."

Lucia froze in place as her face turned scarlet.  
"A date?"  
"Mmmmhmmm"  
"In that case" the human said as she re-gained her composure. "You should pick where we go next."  
"Oh no" Salix shook her head. "I picked where we went to eat, you get to pick where we go next"  
"Except for the fact that I've been here barely a month and don't know jack about what there is to do here."  
"Oh. Right."

The two of them finished their dinners as Salix tried to think of where to go next. They finished the meal with an eye scream sundae ("what is it with this place and eyes?").  
As the waiter came back with the check, Both of them reached for it while saying "I got it."

"I got it."  
"No, I got it."  
"I'm the one who wanted to come here in the first place."  
"And I'm the one who still thinks they're getting paid to much."

Salix leaned back and massaged her temples.  
"Tell you what" she said "You pay for Dinner, and I'll pay for whatever we do next. Deal?"  
Lucia nodded in agreement before counting out the snails for the dinner. Once all was said and done, the two of them got up and left to whatever would come next.

* * *

Salix lead Lucia through the street with a blindfold on, as she wanted whatever they did to be a surprise.  
"If it's the brothel, then I swear to God that-"  
"It's not the brothel. I promise. And low and behold, we're here."  
The witch pulled the blindfold from the human's face, allowing her to see the large movie theater they stood in front of.  
"Oh shit" Lucia said. "We got these back on earth too."  
She squinted at the posters on the front of the building. "Ofcourse, I have no idea what any of these movies even are..."  
Salix laughed and threw her arm around the human's shoulder, who promptly turned into a blushing mess.  
"I say we should watch... That one" She said as she pointed towards one of the posters.

"My bile sack burns for you" the poster read. Despite the poetic name, the art on the poster itself made it very clear that this was a Rom-Com.  
"Alright" Lucia said. "How bad can it be?"

* * *

"Well that was terrible" Lucia chuckled as they left the theater.  
"Tell me about it. I lUve U m0Re ThAn liFe ItSeLf" Salix mocked.  
Neither of them could stifle their laughter at the sheer absurdity of the movie they watched.  
"I think we have a bit more time." The plant witch said as she checked the clock with a quick spell circle. "Want to head to my place for a little bit?"  
"I'd love too"

* * *

The sun had completely set by the time they got back to Salix's cottage. As the moon rose into the sky, Lucia found herself compleatly enamored by the stars as they danced about. Something that wasn't lost on the witch beside her.  
"I got an idea" she said as she pulled the human to the side of her cottage. Before Lucia could question it, Salix pulled her close to her body, resulting in a squeak and a heavy blush, suddenly realizing that the witch was taller than her.  
A quick spell circle later, and the two of them where being lifted to the roof by a dense vine. As they reached the top, Salix stepped off the vine and lied down on the roof, with Lucia resting beside her soon enough.

"The stars are beautiful here" the human uttered after a few minutes.  
"Do you not have stars in your world?"  
"We do" Lucia responded. "But they're usually drowned out by the lights of towns and such"  
Salix let out a slow whistle.  
"How many lights do you need to drown out the stars?"  
"A lot"

"What's the human world like?" Salix asked.  
Lucia could only snort.  
"Honestly, I can't really do it justice. The main thing is that there's a lot more livable land than this place. And because the ocean's not boiling, you can actually travel across it with enough patience."  
"Damn. How much bigger?"  
"Thousands, maybe even millions of times bigger than the isles. Each place with their own peoples and cultures that make them special."  
"That is... Wow." is all Salix could muster. "You'll have to show me that some time."  
"Trust me, I'd love to." Lucia said with a sad face. "Ofcourse, well..."  
Salix swallowed hard. It had slipped her mind that the human's way home was gone.  
"Now's not the time for that though" Lucia continued. "So... what do you think?"  
"Of what?"  
"Of me."  
A warm smile spread itself across Salix's face as she leaned in close. Lucia's breath hitched as the witch's lips approached her own. And as they brushed against each other, Lucia felt a wonderful shock go through her whole body.  
"Does that answer your question?" Salix asked smugly.  
Lucia simply sat there for a minute, trying to comprehend what just happened. Once she finally figured it out, She wrapped her arms around the witch's shoulders.  
"Yeah, it does" She said as she returned the gesture with full force.


	8. The Picnic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know. 2 romance chapters in a row. I would have done something different, but I actually couldn't figure out a better way to structure things. So here we are. Also sorry I'm late.

"This is nice"  
Lucia and Salix where currently cuddling on the couch of the owl house. Lucia was laying across Salix's body, lulling in and out of a gentle trance as the witch under her played with her hair and gently purred. (The first time Lucia realized Witches could purr was one hell of a culture shock)  
Neither of them knew how long they had been there. Eda walked by at one point muttering something about "mushy teenagers", but that was really about it.  
Thankfully, before either of them could fall asleep, the door slammed open with a very annoying screech.  
"GUESS WHO'S HOME! HOOT!"  
The four schoolchildren poured into the owl house, but quickly halted in surprise when they saw the older girls on the couch.  
"How was school?" Salix asked the children.  
"It was fine, but, ummm. are you two. Like, together?" Willow asked.  
"Yep"  
"I guess we never told you, huh?"  
The shaken heads from the younger witches confirmed that theory.  
"You two are cute together" Luz perked in.  
As her little sister mentioned this, A sly grin spread across Lucia's face.  
"Hey Luz. Did you know that witches purr like cats?"  
The young human let out an excited gasp. "They do?!?!"  
"Yep. Maybe Amity can show you."  
"I CAN WHAT?!?!" The green-haired witch shouted as her face became a bright red.  
"OOOOOOH! YOU GOTTA SHOW ME AMITY!" Luz cried with an excited squeal as she dragged the young witch upstairs, leaving behind the others.  
"She's never going to get it. Is she?" Gus asked nobody in particular.  
Willow simply shook her head in a deep sigh.

"Are you sure you're alright with those two being together?" Salix asked.  
Willow quirked her head at the question.  
"Ofcourse" she said. "Why wouldn't I be?"  
"I mean, Amity _did_ put you through hell for years, even if she did only cut ties with you because of her parents. And Luz is your best friend."  
"Yeah. I know. But Amity wasn't much better off than me during that time. And it's thanks to Luz that both of us are out of that slump."  
"That still doesn't mean you have to be her friend again."  
"I know. And frankly, I'm still not sure we _can_ say we're friends yet. But even then, I _want_ to be friends with Amity again. And now that she's back to the Amity I remember from when we where six... Well. you get the idea"  
Salix nodded along as Willow talked. She still remembers the day when Willow came home crying about how Amity shunned her and kicked her out. it warmed her heart to see that they where finally fixing the burnt bridges.  
"And neither of you are worried about being played second fiddle?"  
"Eh. I'm used to it." Gus deadpanned.  
Willow, on the other hand, simply laughed her older sister off.  
"Honestly, I'm not even sure Luz _can_ treat people like a third wheel."  
"Alright. But if either of them-" she said before looking down at the human still laying on top of her.  
"If Amity hurts you, let me know so I can take care of it."  
"Good save"  
"Thanks"

~

Amelia was not having a good day.  
Well. that's not entirely fair. It wasn't a bad day either. It was just kind of... a day.  
Currently, she was lying on her bed scrolling through her scroll. Once said scroll decided to slip out of her hand and onto her face, she figured she would go and grab a drink.  
As she walked through the hallway to the kitchen, she heard chatter coming from Amity's room.  
 _The twin's chatter._  
" _I've been back 2 weeks and they're already back to their bullshit_ " Amelia muttered to herself.  
"Alright you two." She continued as she opened the door. "What's going on in here."  
Amelia immediately knew something was off from their reactions. Usually the twins would try to get out of there as soon as possible, with Amity giving a deep sigh of relief. This time though, Amity averted her gaze from her older sister, while the twins shared a knowing look.  
"Oh, We're not bothering her at all. In fact. We're just here to give her some advice."  
"What kind of advice?"  
"Well you see Amelia" Emira began.  
"Mittens here has found herself quite _Smitten_ with a certain someone." Edric finished.  
The eldest of the blight siblings quirked her eye brow in interest.  
"Well?" she inquired. "who is it?"  
"Well I'm pretty sure you've already met her. Does a certain... _Human_ come to mind?"  
Ok. Now Amelia was really surprised. "Luz?"  
"Yeah. The same one who kicked all your coven b-" He tried to say before being cut off by a blob of Abomination goo around the mouth.

"Alright" Amelia sighed as she sat down next to her little sister.  
"Can you tell me how that happened?"

Amity leaned in protectively into her big sister. Even if they had been apart for a whole year. Some things never changed.  
"Luz... I have a lot to thank her for. She's the only person who saw through my facade, she genuinely cared about me as a person. She comforted me when Ms. Clawthorne tricked me into cheating at the covention.  
She helped me patch things up with Willow, she helped me break off of Boscha and her cronies. And that's not to mention everything else that's great about her! she's sweet, nice, loyal. She'd do just about anything for her friends."  
Amity could have kept going. And she would have happily done so. Had she not remembered that she was currently gushing to her older sister. Thankfully, if Amelia did have any judgement about her choice in crush, she didn't show it.  
"So in that case. Why exactly did you go to the twins for help?"  
Amity did not have any problem answering this question.  
"I didn't. Me and Luz had our Azura Book Club today" Her face was flushing red at the memories. "And when I went to write about it in my diary, it turns out that those two airheads figured out an invisibility spell and where looking over my shoulder."  
The green haired witch let out a long sigh.  
"Anyways. Edric's decided that he's an expert on relationships sense he started dating the multi-track girl from school"  
Remarkably, this is what surprised Amelia the most.  
"You." she said as she stared Edric down. "Got a girlfriend."  
"Yep. She fell for me thanks to my smooth moves and natural charisma"  
"Viney fell for you because she's a moronsexual"  
"Wow" Edric said appalled. "That is an insult to both of us."  
"Your first kiss came right after you said that chocolate milk comes from brown spider demons."  
This time, it was Edric's turn to blush as everyone else laughed at their brother's idiocy.

After a few moments, Amelia was finally able to collect herself and let out a long sigh.  
"And here I was thinking Edric was the gay one"  
"Oh sister" Emira batted her eyelashes at her. "You're twice as wrong as you think her are"  
Amelia ignored her as she turned her attention back towards the youngest sister.  
"Look, Amity." She said with a deep sigh. "We both know I'm not the best at this sort of thing. But frankly, I think you should just rip the bandage off and ask her out."  
"I can't just ask her out!" the younger witch cried. "Even just as friends, Luz is the best thing to ever happen to me! I- I can't loose her."  
"Mittens. Luz took on the entire conformatorium to rescue the owl lady. Even if she doesn't like you back, She's not going to be phased in the slightest by you asking her out."  
Amity took a deep breath.  
"You're right" she said as her eyes lit up. "And I know the perfect date!"

~

Lucia sat apon the couch, sipping apple blood and watching whatever in high hell was playing on the crystal ball.  
"I'm home!" Luz cried as she came in through the door.  
"How was your book club?"  
"It was great! Amity has some really great theories on Azura lore!"  
"Can you tell me a bit more about Amity?" The older human asked.  
At the prospect, Luz's eyes seemed to light up.  
"Amity's great! She's smart, nice. Is a massive nerd for the Azura books. She's the prettiest girl at Hexside, She's incredibly talented. What isn't there to like?!"  
Lucia took a knowing sip of her apple blood.  
"It sounds like you like her quite a lot"  
"Yeah. She's a great friend."  
Ok. Lucia was starting to see why everyone was getting tired of this.  
"I _said_ , It sounds like you like her quite a lot."  
Somehow, Luz still didn't seem to get the memo.  
"Yeah, she's pretty nice"  
"Nice enough to call her the prettiest girl at school?"  
Luz went still. _unnervingly still._  
"ah cramity" she whispered to herself.  
" _There it is_ " Lucia thought to herself with a smirk.  
Luz, however. Was still in the midst of an existential crisis.  
"I like Amity. I like Amity. I like Amity." she repeated to herself as she sat down next to Lucia.  
"What am I going to do?"  
"You could just ask her out."  
"Are you insane? I can't just ask her out!"  
"Nah. I was insane when I confessed to my crush while we where already having dinner. Whatever you decide to do will definitly end less disastrously than how my confession could have gone."  
"You're right" the younger human finally decided. "And I know exactly what we should do."

~

As Amity arrived to school on her sister's staff. The existential dread in her chest was definitly not from the heights.  
"Look Mittens" the elder Blight said as she put her hands on her sister's shoulder. "Worst-case scenario, you're just friends. Whatever the hell you're expecting to happen won't come to. I promise."  
"Thanks Amelia." She said as she turned towards the school.  
"I got this. I got this. I got this." Amity repeated through her head as she walked towards her locker. As she turned the corner, she found her new friend group leaning against Luz's locker. The human in question gave her a wave when she saw the young witch.  
"I don't got this" she thought as her knees turned to jelly.

"Hi. Luz." she meekly said as she mentally hyped herself up for this.  
"Can I ask you something?"

"Oh" the human said. "I, uh, actually had a question for you two." and wait, was Luz _blushing_?  
" _It probably doesn't mean anything_ " Amity told herself.  
"Oh. alright. You can go first then"  
Luz, however, shook her head.  
"Nah, you brought it up first."  
"No no. I insist."  
"Well, I _also_ insist"  
"Alright. How about we both ask at the same time then?"  
Luz thought about it for a moment before agreeing that it would probably be the best course of action.  
"Alright. On three"  
"One"  
"Two"  
"Three"  
"WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME?" both girls asked in unison.  
The two of them stared at each other. Neither saying anything as Willow promptly fell over laughing next to them.

"You want to go out with me?" Amity asked as her cheeks started to blush.  
"You want to go out with _me_?" Luz parrots.

"Ofcourse I do."  
"But what about who you wanted to ask to grom?"  
Somehow, the blush on Amity's cheeks became even deeper.  
"Oh. That? No. That. Umm... may or may not have also been you."  
Luz didn't say anything for about a full minute. More impressively, Willow managed to keep her laugh going full force for that same amount of time.  
"I.. umm. I guess it's a date then."  
"I guess so."  
"Is there anything you want to do?" Luz asked carefully.  
"Oh. I was thinking a nice picnic. You know, by the grom tree"  
"Wait really?" the human had to do a double take. "That's what I was thinking too!"  
This time, it was Amity's turn to laugh. Luz had never really noticed how nice her laugh was before.  
"alright. I can't wait." the green-haired witch said as the bell screamed. "I gotta get to class. See ya!"  
"Bye Amity!"

Luz simply stood there for a minute. the weight on her shoulders suddenly feeling a lot lighter than it had this morning.

"Alright. I'm done" Willow said as she pulled herself off the floor.  
"Did she finally get the girl?"  
"Yes she did Willow." Gus nodded. "Yes she did."  
"Great. And on that note" she said as she turned towards the human.  
"Luz. How did you _never_ pick up on Amity's crush on you?"  
"It can't have been that bad." Luz said as she spun her hand around.

Willow, however. Was unimpressed.  
"Augustus. If you will?"

A quick spell circle later, and a birds-eye view of the events from the day Luz challenged Boscha to a grudgby match showed up infront of them.

"Me. On a team with. you? Running around in. Cute uniforms? SWEATING?"  
Luz felt her face start to match the illusionary Amity's as it ran off.

"No. I'm fine. Who's Amity?"  
"Oh. Wow. Sports"

"Do you need any more examples?" Willow asked.

"No. I got it." Luz said as she tried to keep her face from becoming even more of a tomato.  
"I'm just gonna... Head to class now. SEE YA!"

~

To say Luz was nervous was an understatement. She was not used to people having crushes on her. And frankly, she still had no idea what Amity saw in her.  
She re-adjusted her picnic basket, filled to the brim with food, games, and music. Everything she'd need to make this picnic perfect.

As she reached the grom tree, it's pink petals still in full bloom, She found that Amity was already there sitting on a blanket.

" _Mi Hermosa_ " Luz uttered as she saw the witchling waiting for her.  
Amity was currently wearing a light floral dress, her makeup was delicate, and her hair was currently down, exposing the brown roots for all to see.

"What was that?" the girl asked.  
"NOTHING! Nothing" Luz cried as she tried to keep her blush under control. "You look good."  
"Thanks. Edric helped me with the hair and make up."  
"Edric?"  
"Yeah. I was surprised too. He was... actually pretty good at it though?"  
"That's putting it lightly" Luz teased as she winked at the young witch as her face turned scarlet.  
"Anyways" she continued as she set down her picnic basket. "You ready to eat?"  
"Oh, ummm. this is akward." Amity said as she pulled out her own picnic basket.  
"We really didn't plan this out well, huh?"  
"No" Luz chuckled. "I guess we didn't."

Thankfully, the rest of the picnic went off without a hitch. They ate a bit of both picnic lunches. Talked about Azura lore and. Well ok, it was mostly just Azura talk.  
"I have to get home. The twins can only cover me so long." Amity said as the sun began to set.  
"That was fun though. We should do it again."  
For once, Luz was at a loss for words.  
"Yeah. It was."  
"I'll. see you around then?"  
"Yeah. I'd like that."

Amity chuckled before placing a quick kiss on Luz's cheek. "Dork"

Luz felt her whole body heat up and stiffen at the gesture.

"Bye Luz." the green haired witch said as she walked back towards home.  
"See ya, Amity." the human finally managed to squeak out.

~

As Luz made her way back home, picnic went through her head again and again. In fact, she was so pre-occupied, she didn't even realize that she made it back until she found herself inside and tripping onto the couch.  
"I take it things went well?" Lucia asked as her little sister picked herself back up.  
"It was amazing!"  
"That's good to hear."  
"Yeah. I still don't know what we are though. Like, are we girlfriends? are we still just friends? what's going on?"  
Lucia simply laughed." You can figure that out at the next date. Alright?"  
Luz's eyes lit up and her face went blush at the idea.  
"I didn't think about the next date"  
"Well do you want to go on a date with her again?"  
The younger human thought about it for a moment.  
"yeah. I think I would."  
"Well then, you better make it count sis."  
"Yeah. I guess I should."


	9. The book

"Aaaand done!" Lucia cried as she got the final canopy up. As she sat on the steps of the cottage, she admired her handywork.  
A heat wave was foretold to be arriving next week, so the iceicle carrots needed shade set up so they wouldn't melt.  
As she rolled her tense shoulders, Salix came out of the cottage and gave Lucia a nice cup of iced apple blood.  
"So" the human asked. "Got any plans for tonight?"  
Salix bit her bottom lip, a spark flashing in her eyes. She leaned in close and put her mouth by Lucia's ear.  
"I'm free tonight if you want to have some fun" she purred.  
This wasn't like the purr Lucia was familiar with though. Oh no, This one was deeper. *Bolder*. Lucia's face went crimson when she realized just was Salix was talking about.

* * *

Eda slammed down another pile of books as the early morning sun filtered through the windows.  
"Well, that was a bust." she deadpanned. "Any luck kid?"  
Luz finished filtering through her own book, to no avail.  
"Can't we just use oracle magic to find the author?" She asked.  
"No can do, kiddo. Every printing press worth their salt has dozens of charms and hexes to prevent tracking the people who wrote their books."  
Luz fell back into her chair dishiveled, until a realization came to her.  
"Wait. It's the printers who put the charms on the books, right?"  
"Mmmhhmm"  
"So then in that case, Would a copy of the book printed in the human world not have any protection charms on it?"  
Eda's eyes shot open as she realized what the human said.  
"Hot damn kid you might be onto something! Quick, grab your copy of the book. And King, grab me my crystal ball!"  
As the two of them scrambled to grab the requested supplies, Eda pulled a bottle of elixir out of her hair and chugged it down.  
Using a crystal ball didn't really need a witch's internal magic, and it's not like the elixirs have done anything since she and Lilith split the curse, bet better safe and sorry.

As the two others brought what she requested, Eda put everything in place and began to focus. She didn't look at the crystal ball, but rather straight through it.  
Attempting to see what was on the other side in a metaphorical sense, if you will.  
After a few moments, the crystal ball began to swirl. And within it, an imaged formed. A small, worn-down cabin, placed in front of a small lake and with a grand view of the rest of the isles.  
"That's the foot" Eda realized.  
"So that's where the author lives?"  
"Unless I failed that badly, then yes."

Luz squealed with excitement at the revelation before dashing upstairs to tell her sister.  
"LUCIA WAKE UP WE GOT A LEAD!" She cried as she practically kicked down her sister's door.  
"Eh, What? What's going on?" The older human mumbled.  
"Who's there?" Salix asked as she sat up, barely covering herself with the blanket.  
"AH FUCK!" Luz shouted as she covered her eyes and backed out of the room, not knowing that the witch was in there with her sister.

"What was that about?" Asked Eda as she came up stairs.  
"Nothing! just- give them a minute."  
The elder witch quirked her eyes when Luz said "them." Sure enough, a couple minutes later both Lucia and Salix hobbled out of the bedroom, both looking a bit worse for ware.  
"And what is _she_ doing here?" Edalyn asked.  
"I- um. Well- She"  
"IIIII Can tell you what they did." Hooty said as he stretched his neck through the door, prompting a look of horror on both girl's faces.

"Aaaaand Memory charm"  
Eda's "Memory charm" Consisted of Swirling owlbert around and giving Hooty a good thwack on the head. Judging by how the bird tube shrank back through the window while asking what day it is, it seemed to work.

"Listen kid. The next time you want to bring your girlfriend over for a "Play date", make sure you cast a sleep spell on Hooty. You can't get anything past him that you do in here."  
Lucia nodded in both terror and relief, before Eda continued.  
"Anyways, Come down stairs, we found something."

* * *

As the two went down stairs and had breakfast (Eda was kind enough to let Salix stay for that), Luz explained how they managed to use a human copy of the Azura book to track the author with oracle magic.  
"So we know where we need to go then?" Lucia asked.  
"Yep! A small cabin out on the titan's foot."  
"And how far out is that?"  
"I don't know. two hours, two and a half maybe?"  
Lucia made a sucking noise as she looked towards her girlfriend.  
"Oh no, don't give me that look" Salix remarked. "This is way to important for you to pass up. Don't worry about the stand today, alright?"  
A wave of relief washed over the human at how understanding her girlfriend was, even without having actually *say* anything.  
"Thanks babe. You're the best" She set with a quick kiss to the forehead.  
"Bleugh" Eda cried in disgust. "If you're gonna be all mushy then atleast don't do it in front of me."

Just to prove a point, Salix pulled her girlfriend in for another kiss before getting up and heading out the door.

Once Eda was finished rolling her eyes. She finished her breakfast and summoned owlbert to her side.  
"Alright kids. Let's go before hooty snaps out of his daze."

* * *

The flight to the foot was about as long as Luz had predicted. And save for a wild gryphon passing by ("How the hell did you get that right?" Lucia had asked her little sister while passing it), It was a fairly uneventful trip.  
Eventually, They managed to make their way up to the foot. And crowing the big toe was a small forest with a cabin and lake, exactly how Eda had seen in the crystal ball.

"Alright you two. Keep your guard up" The witch said as they landed. "Titan knows what we might run up to in here."  
As they carefully approached the door and gave it a quick knock. Something shuffled around inside until a peep hole on the door opened up.  
"Who's there?"  
"Are you the one who wrote the Azura books?" Eda asked while holding Luz's copy.  
"That depends who's asking."  
"I'm asking as someone who has a couple of kids who need to get home."  
Whoever was behind the door, Their eyes widened when they realized that the witch was accompanied by a pair of humans.  
They closed the flap and unlocked several locks. An amount that even Eda thought was excessive.  
Once she was finally done, the door swung open to reveal a figure not to dissimilar to the main character of the books she wrote, Save for the burnet hair, simple gardening attire, and bandana that covered her head..  
"Come in." She said in a rush as she shuffled all the women inside.  
"Thanks Miss...."  
"Call me Twolia"  
"Right. Thanks Miss Twolia"  
"How did you find me, anyways?"  
"Kid and her girlfriend realized that your books are sold in both worlds. So, we figured you probably have a portal."  
"Sadly, no" Twolia said in a somber note. "I still may be able to assist you, however."

  
"Wait. If you don't have a portal, then how do you sell your books in both worlds?"

"It is..." the woman hesitated. "Easier for me to show you."

After making that decision, Twolia pulled her shirt down to her chest and began to pry at her own skin. After a little bit of effort, her chest began to split open and revealed she was made of a gel-like substance, surrounding a glowing clockwork heart made of gold and brass.  
"A simulacrum" Eda said in a stunned voice.  
"What's that?"  
"Basically a magic clone. They're incredibly hard to make, and even harder to keep stable for a long time."

"Indeed" Twolia agreed as she put herself back together. "It was quite terrifying when I first woke up here. But eventually I was able to figure out what exactly happened. Somehow, the real me in the Human world managed to find a necklace in a thrift shop that was bound to my heart. Once I realized just how valuable I was, and that I didn't need food or water to sustain myself, I decided too stay in hiding up here, befriending the local wildlife and publishing the books that the real me wrote for what little money I needed."

"Right..." Eda said after the exposition dump. "So if you don't have a portal, then how are you supposed to help us?"  
"Ah, yes!" Twolia said as she got up and went towards the bookshelf. "Needless to say, Whoever created me must have had a portal at one point if my necklace was in the human world. And in my free time of looking through the books that where left here, I did find one that may solve your problem."

"Wait a second" Lucia said as she finally started putting the pieces together.

  
"If you're a clone. And your name is Twolia... Is your real name Talia?"

The simulacrum froze for a moment.

"Maybe" She said awkwardly before getting back to searching.

"And here I was thinking that Luz was bad with puns" Eda groaned.

Twolia ignored her comment. "Ah. Here it is" she said as she pulled out a book and placed it on the coffee table.  
"I haven't been able to decipher it, but the illustrations make it quite clear that it's about the construction of portals."  
Sure enough, the cover of the book had a large swirl on it. and as Eda flipped through the pages, Twolia was definitly telling the truth.  
Some pages depicted unfamiliar lands, Others depicted rifts and visualizations. Hell, one even had a near-perfect depiction of Eda's old portal.  
Unfortunately. She was also telling the truth about being unable to decipher it. The book was written in a language that Eda didn't recognize. It may have even been code, for all she knew.

"Well, It's definitly a start" she said as she placed the book into her hair. "We better be on our way then. Thanks for all the help"  
"It's my pleasure."

"Oh, Ummm. Miss Twolia?" Luz asked nervously. "Our mami... She doesn't know we're here. Is there any way you could get a message to her?"

The Simulacrum sighed and shook her head.  
"I'm sorry, but while I do get memories from the real me, it seems that connection is one way."  
"Alright. I just thought I'd ask."

The three visitors left the building and hopped back onto Owlbert. With renewed vigor and the certainty that they'd be able to get the humans home.

* * *

"Hey, can you drop me off at Salix's place?"

"She already told you not to worry about the farm work kid"

"Wow, so A girl can't visit her girlfriend out of love?"

Eda sighed and repented. Dropping Lucia off at her girlfriend's farm before taking back off. 

  
"Oh, Lucia! didn't expect you here!" Salix said 

"Eh, we where passing by, managed to convince Eda to drop me off.

"That's nice. Here, come in. I just made dinner."

Things had gotten a bit nicer inside the cabin sense Salix got out of jail. It was still dark most of the time, but it was still significantly cleaner. And there where a bit more decorations scattered about.

"Oooh, Bone pepper poppers." Lucia drooled as she saw what came out of the oven. Once they where plated. The two women sat down on the couch and began to eat.

"So, did you find anything?" Salix asked.  
"Yep. We managed to find an old book on how to make portals. Unfortunately we actually need to figure out how to translate it."  
"Well. It's a start atleast."  
"Yeah. I guess it is." Lucia said as she stared off into space.  
"Is something wrong?"  
"Eh?" The human snapped back to reality. "Oh. No. It's fine. It's just that I don't really know what to do once I get back to my world. I mean, it would be a pretty dick move to just abandon my girlfriend, but even then. I didn't really know what I was doing with my life before coming here. Hell, this farm work is just about the most stable I've been sense... ever."

Salix put her plate down and leaned into her girlfriend.  
"I know you're stressed. But we can take this one step at a time. Alright?" She said as she began to run her finger's through the human's hair. "Once we get a new portal, then we can figure out what you want to do with your life."  
Lucia let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.  
"Thanks, Salix."  
"And once we do get to that step, we can Figure it out together. I promise."

Lucia set her own plate down and leaned back into the witch.  
"I think I'd like that."


End file.
